


Tales Of An Assistant

by phantomthief_fee



Series: The Assistant [5]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Just me writing stuff with Cordelia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-28 09:46:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 29,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13268865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: Drabbles dedicated to Cordelia Bell, assistant at Joey Drew Studios. Often featuring characters by @Gears112





	1. Reminiscence

Henry wasn’t sure why he was at this birthday party to begin with. It was for one of Joshua’s friends, one he didn’t know all that well. And to make things worse, Joshua and the rest of the Ink Spectre Parlour were sick due to a rather nasty bug going around. So Henry was there by himself. He felt a little uncomfortable being one of the oldest people there. All around him was a sea of 20 and 30 somethings. He stood in the back, sipping his wine as the others mingled. He saw a woman making her way through the crowd towards him. She seemed familiar, although he couldn’t quite place where he knew her from.

“Henry!” Her face lit up. “It’s been so long! How are you?” His eyes widened when he heard her voice. 

“Cordelia?” She definitely looked older than she had the last time he’d seen her. She’d filled out a bit, and he could see some laugh and smile lines forming on her face. 

“It’s so good to see you!” She said, patting his arm with her free hand. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been doing well.” Henry nodded, smiling a little. “I got a job at another studio and things have been going really well. How have you been? Are you still going out with Joshua?”

“He hasn’t come crying to you about how I broke his heart, has he?” Cordelia asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“....No?” Henry said slowly. “Why?”

“I just figured he’d do that if I ever broke up with him.” She said, laughing nervously. “Sorry, I’m a little buzzed right now. I was going to come with Joshua, but then he got sick and now I’m here with a bunch of people I don’t know.”

“Well, we’re in the same boat.” Henry held up his wine glass. 

Cordelia smiled. “Here here.” She clinked her glass against his.

The two of them talked in the corner for a while. About Joshua, their jobs, what their lives were like now. They were mostly left alone. The reputation of the studio still loomed over their heads. This reminder made Cordelia drink a bit more heavily. But they tried to move on. Cordelia talked about how she’d gotten a job at the local elementary school as a music teacher. 

“It sounds like your life is really going well.” Henry smiled softly.

“I’m...I’m in a good place right now,” Cordelia said, nodding slowly. “I’m happier than I’ve been in years.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Henry said. Cordelia stared at her glass, swirling it around. She had a strange look on her face, somewhere between regret and wistfulness. 

“Do you ever miss it?” She asked. 

“Miss what?” Henry frowned slightly. 

“The studio.” She said. “Joey. Sammy. All of them.” Henry hesitated to answer for a moment. 

“Yes.” He finally said. “I wish I didn’t, though.” 

“It was your whole life, I can understand why you’d miss it.”  Cordelia patted his back. Henry sighed. He and Joey had created that studio together. For so long, it had been his whole world. He had thought that would where he’d work for the rest of his life. But he should have known Joey would go off the rails.

“Have they made any progress in finding Sammy?” Henry asked, trying to change the subject. “I know Nancy’s probably worried sick.” 

“No progress.” Cordelia shook her head. She seemed to draw into herself at the mention of Sammy. “Not for lack of trying, though.”

“Right...Enough about that.” Henry said quickly. “Let’s just enjoy the night.”

“Of course.” Cordelia managed a weak smile. “I do have to leave early, though. I have to take some soup to Joshy and the others.”

“Of course.” 

They toasted again. Dinner went off without a hitch. The birthday person got their presents, was wished a happy birthday. People joked as they ate, laughing and punching each other’s arms. Cordelia and Henry sat beside each other, eating in silence for the most part. Neither felt like talking. When the time came to leave, Cordelia gladly hugged the host and thanked them for inviting her before going to Henry.

“I’ll see you some other time, alright?” She said. 

“Alright.” He said. She blew him a kiss and disappeared into the snowy night.


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammy reunites with Cordelia and finds out that a lot has changed while he's been gone. Featuring @Gears112's Joshua Foster

Sammy still couldn’t believe he was finally out. After all those years, he was finally out. He kept looking at himself in the mirror, touching his face and running his hands through his hair. It felt so amazing to be human again. But at the same time, he hadn’t aged in nearly 30 years. His sister had grown up, he had a little brother now, and Henry looked so old. Sammy found himself staring at Henry, looking for all the ways Henry had changed. His old friend had more grey than brown in his hair, and wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. It was hard not to notice the differences when he was living in Henry’s attic. Linda was very nice about the whole thing, and all of Henry’s kids were grown up by this point so they weren’t around. 

“Hey, do you want to visit Cordelia?” Henry asked one day at breakfast. “I usually visit her and Joshua every Monday.”

“She’s still in the area?” Sammy looked up from his food.

“She’s teaching at an elementary school nearby.” Henry said. “So, do you want to see her?”

“Yes!” Sammy nearly tipped over the table standing up.

“She’ll be happy to see you.” Henry smiled softly.

After breakfast, they drove over to her house. Sammy was antsy, wriggling in his seat. He wondered how she’d changed in the years since he’d left her. Would she still recognize him? As they pulled up, he suddenly realized he’d never actually visited her house before. It was a little one story house in the suburbs, quaint and cute. The door opened as Henry got out of the car, revealing Roy. Like Henry, his hair was greyed, and he leaned heavily on a cane. 

“Good afternoon.” Roy smiled easily, something Sammy didn’t think he’d ever seen the other man do. 

“Afternoon.” Henry waved. “I hope you don’t mind, I brought a guest.”

“I don’t mind.” Roy shrugged. “You’ll have to take it up with the others.” Henry crossed to the passenger side, opening the door for Sammy. The music director took a deep breath and got out of the car. Roy’s eyes widened slightly. 

“Sammy.” He said. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever see any of you again, either.” Sammy smiled nervously. Roy stepped aside, gesturing for Henry and Sammy to come inside. They did, although Sammy was a little nervous about coming in. The inside of the house was just as warm and comforting as Sammy would have expected. 

“Josh’s making lunch.” Roy said, limping into the back of the house. 

“I’ll go help.” Henry made a beeline for the kitchen, leaving Sammy alone in the living room. He stood there for a moment, looking anywhere and everywhere. 

“Sammy?” He looked over at the quiet voice calling his name. Cordelia stood in the doorway to the kitchen, her hands covering her mouth. 

“It’s...It’s really you.” She said. “I can’t believe it.’

“Hey.” Sammy smiled. God, she really had changed. She hadn’t grown upwards, but she was a bit stockier now. She looked good. She looked happy and healthy, even if her blonde hair was streaked with grey. And...there was a glint of gold on her finger. 

“You...That’s a wedding ring on your finger.” Sammy said, pointing almost dumbly. “Are you...Did you get married?”

“I did.” Cordelia twisted the ring on her finger, smiling softly. 

“It’s that Foster kid, isn’t it?”

“Well, he’s not a kid anymore.” Cordelia said. “Neither of us are.” 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sammy cracked a small smile. He’d missed so much. He had a brother now, his sister was all grown up...Even Cordelia was an adult now. The world had moved on without him.

“Mom? Who’s that?” A teenage girl with short blond hair peeked out from the kitchen. Another girl with brown hair stuck her head out from behind her. She was smaller than the blonde girl and a few years younger from the look of it. 

“Girls, your mother’s talking to someone right now.” Joshua appeared from the kitchen, trying to usher the girls back. The blond girl shook her head, striding triumphantly out to stand beside Cordelia. The little brunette girl scampered out as well. 

“Mom?” Sammy repeated. 

“Sammy, meet Samantha and Henrietta...They’re our kids...” Cordelia said, putting her hands on the girls’ heads. The blond girl was taller than her mother while the brunette one was about the same height. 

“ _ That’s  _ Uncle Sammy?” The blond girl asked incredulously. “I thought he’d be taller.”

“Samantha,” Joshua warned the blond girl.

“What? The way you talk about him, I thought he’d be this big hulking brute.” Samantha said. “Look at him, he’s a twig.” Now that she was closer, Sammy could see the tattoos decorating her arms and neck. Apparently she took after her father. 

“Sam, that’s not very nice,” Henrietta whispered. 

“He’s been stuck in the studio for nearly 30 years.” Henry explained, joining them in the living room. “That’s why he looks the way he does.” Cordelia nodded, her expression growing grim for a moment. 

“I’m glad you shook off that Prophet mindset.” She forced a smile. “You were a bit scary like that.” Henry and Joshua both gave her a quizzical look, but she brushed it off. 

“Anyway, it’s good to have you back.” She said. “We’re having mac and cheese for lunch. I hope that’s alright.” 

“We need to make a grocery run later,” Joshua added. “Henrietta needs driving practice.”

“And you don’t trust me with the car,” Samantha said. 

“I never said that.” 

“Yeah, but you’re thinking it.” 

Sammy started laughing. He really liked this girl. She had some fire in her. 

“What’s so funny?” Samantha demanded. 

“Did we say something wrong?” Henrietta asked, beginning to panic a bit. 

“No no. I just...You girls are alright.” Sammy said, unable to stop himself from grinning. “You really are your parents’ children.”

“Thanks. I was beginning to doubt whether they were really my parents.” Samantha rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as well. Henrietta’s face lit up and she clapped her hands together. And with that, they sat down for lunch. 


	3. Lights...Camera...Ink!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy takes a deal from Murray Hill that he really shouldn't have.

So, here are the two versions of [Ink!Roy](http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/169453570940/queenofcats17-so-gears112-on-ao3-wrote-a-story).

* * *

He’d gone to the studio because they’d promised they could fix him. He’d known it was a bad idea. It had been years since the accident and the sting of his disfigurement had faded, but he still so badly wanted to go back to acting. He missed it more than anything else in the world. So when Murray Hill had reached out to him, promising Joey could give Roy his face back, the disgraced actor had jumped at the opportunity. He’d told Cordelia he was going out to meet a man about a job. Given that he was currently working at a factory, she believed him. He’d taken the bus out there. Of course, many people had stared at him, but he was used to it by now. Murray Hill was waiting for him outside the studio, grinning.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come.” Murray wrapped an arm around Roy’s shoulders, or tried to. Roy was not a small man and Murray was barely 5’8’’.

“Please don’t touch me.” Roy said.

“Alright.” Murray put his hands up. “Let’s do this.” He gestured Roy inside, leading him to the ink machine room. The studio had certainly seen better days, Roy observed. Obviously, the studio had been shut down since Cordelia and Sammy’s departure.

“Excuse the mess.” Murray said. “The studio’s briefly closed while Joey...works.”

“Not interested.” Roy said flatly. “Just do whatever it is you’re going to do.”

“You’re not even going to ask what we’re going to do to you?” Murray raised an eyebrow. Roy didn’t like the smile the mechanic had.

“At this point, I don’t care.” Roy said. He knew he was going to regret this. He just knew it. But some part of him desperately wanted this to work. He wanted to have his face back. He wanted to be an actor again. So Murray led him into the ink machine room. Joey turned around and his whole face lit up.

“Roy! It’s lovely to see you!” Joey tried to go in for a hug, but Roy quickly dodged him.

“Let’s just do this.” Roy said.

“I can’t believe you came!” Joey said as Murray went to turn on the machine. “No one else has accepted our invitations!”

“I just want my life back.” Roy leaned heavily on his cane. He’d taken to carrying a bamboo cane everywhere when he’d been younger because it had been fashionable, but now he actually needed it.

“Trust me, you won’t regret this.” Joey slapped his back and directed Roy to stand under to spout. Roy had to fold his body up a considerable bit to fit comfortably under the spout, but he managed to do it. Then Murray turned the machine on.

In a moment, everything about Roy was swept away in a torrent of ink. All his memories became jumbled up, some even washed away. When the ink stopped, he didn’t know where he was or even who he was.

“How do you feel, Roy?” An excitable dark haired man asked him. Roy...That was his name. Roy blinked, looking down at himself. He was still all folded up. He rose to his full height, feeling surprised when he towered above the other men. He was all black and white. Why was he all black and white? The other men had colour in them. He was all drippy too. The others weren’t drippy.

“Roy?” The man with the red eyes put a hand on Roy’s arm. “Mr Drew asked you a question. How do you feel?”

“I...I feel alright?” Roy hesitated before he spoke. His voice didn’t sound quite right. It sounded almost higher in pitch.

“That’s good!” The excitable man, Roy remembered his name was Joey, clapped his hands together. “You came out so much better than all the others! You’re so much more coherent!”

“Pity we couldn’t completely fix your face.” The man with the red eyes sighed. “Now it’s got ink all over it. Oh well. It’s better than before.” Roy looked around as the two men began to talk. He shouldn’t be here. He knew that very clearly. There was someone he needed to find. Someone he needed to get to.

“Where’s...Where is she?” He asked.

“Where’s who?” The red eyed man asked.

“Her.” Roy repeated, frowning. “The...The girl.”

“Oh, Cordelia?” Joey said. “She’s probably back at your home.”

“I need to go to her.”

“You can’t.” The red eyed man’s grip on Roy’s arm tightened.

“Well why not?” Roy asked.

“You have a role you need to play.” The red eyed man said. “You’re an actor, remember? You have a role to play here.” Yes, that's right. He was an actor. But did they really have a role for him to play here?

“Oh, yes!” Joey quickly joined in. “We have a very important role for you to play here, Roy!”

“Well, what is it?” Roy asked, starting to spin his cane absentmindedly.

Joey’s smile widened. “Let me tell you...”

As it turned out, they didn’t have a role for him. They dumped him in the lower levels and forgot about him. Roy’s days were filled with running away from the Prophet, the Ink Demon, the Butcher Gang clones, and the “Angel”. The Prophet was alright for the most part, as long as it was just him and Roy. The Prophet had a lot of information about Cordelia as well. Roy’s memories of his sister were fuzzy at best, but the Prophet had a lot of information about Cordelia. The Prophet talked about her whenever Roy was near. Roy rather didn’t like the way the Prophet talked about Cordelia, though. Always Acolyte this and my dear that. Roy kept his feelings on the matter to himself, though. The Prophet was most definitely not someone he wanted to anger. Roy honestly didn’t have the energy to deal with a pissed off music director. More than anything Roy wanted to get back to his sister. He worried about her constantly. Was she doing alright? Was she eating? Then, some new visitors came to the studio. He’d never expected to see his sister again like that. What mattered was that she was there. He had his sister back again.


	4. The Victim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Cordelia in MsFaust's Extranormal Crimes AU. TW: for rape

Part of [@magicalmonsterhero](https://tmblr.co/mctfDpl6LStDVGfHpM3ZLTA) ‘s last request was that I write something in one of their AU’s, so here’s Cordelia and Roy in the Extranormal Crimes AU

* * *

All her life, Cordelia Bell had done her best to be as unmemorable as possible. In a city full of monsters and magical creatures, the last thing she wanted to do was stick out. When her brother had been young, he’d gotten on the wrong side of a faerie and he’d met with an unfortunate…accident while on set. In the end, his face had been scarred, his leg broken, and his career ended. Ever since then, both Bell siblings had been very careful not to be noticed by the members of the supernatural community. They did their best to stay close to one another since they were all each other had. However, bad luck had a habit of catching up with them. 

Cordelia had a stalker. He’d been sending letters to the house, showing up at her work, trying to follow her home. She’d gone to the police a few times, even issuing a restraining order against the stalker, but nothing seemed to deter him. Cordelia was at the end of her rope. She didn’t know what to do. Since the stalker happened to be a vampire, she’d taken to wearing a crucifix, eating a lot of garlic, and only going out in the daytime. But one day, she was caught out after dark. Her shift at the diner had run late and by the time she was let out, it was nighttime. 

“Do you think I could use the phone?” She asked, turning back to her boss. “I need to call my brother.”

“The phone’s busted.” The diner owner said apologetically. “Sorry, Bell.”

“I can walk you home.” One of her coworkers volunteered. 

“That…Thanks.” Cordelia nodded, clutching her bag to her chest. “Thank you so much, Elena.” Elena nodded, taking Cordelia’s hand in hers. The two set off across the darkened city, staying in the glow of the streetlights as much as possible.

“He won’t get you, Bell, I promise.” Elena squeezed Cordelia’s hand as they went along. “I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“Thanks.” Cordelia smiled shakily. She really thought she was going to be able to make it home unscathed. But about a mile from her home, someone pulled them into an alley. Elena screamed, but she was quickly silenced as their assailant snapped her neck with a sickening crack. 

“What a naughty girl you are, Cordelia.” A familiar voice purred in her ear. “You’ve been playing hard to get.” Cordelia started to cry, kicking and screaming as she tried to get away from him. 

“Settle down.” Her stalker forced her against a wall. “I want this to be fun for both of us, darling.”

“YOU KILLED HER!” Cordelia screamed, trying to land a kick on his chest. “YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!”

“She was in the way.” His grip on her neck tightened. “Now play nice. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” Cordelia stopped struggling, staring with wide eyes at the man before her. He smiled, revealing razor sharp fangs. 

“Good girl.” He said, leaning in to kiss her neck. “I promise, I’ll be gentle.” She whimpered as she felt his cold breath on her skin. A moment later, his fangs pricked her neck and he began to drink. Cordelia whimpered louder. It felt amazing, being fed upon. She didn’t want to enjoy this. She wanted it to stop. Why did her body like this so much? She started sobbing. 

“Why are you crying?” Her stalker asked. “I know you’re enjoying this.”

“P-Please, I just want to go home.” She sobbed. “I-I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”

“I’m not letting you go ever again. The world has kept us apart for too long. I know you want me. You won’t have to pretend anymore.” He said, before starting to feed once more. She could feel herself growing weak. Soon, her vision began to go black. The last thing she saw was her stalker’s face, bathed in the light of a police car. 

When she woke up, it was on a little cot. She was still in her work uniform, but her shoes had been removed. A thin black had been thrown over her. 

“Where…Where am I?” She sat up.

“Ah, she’s awake!” A man dressed in a police uniform walked up to her. “How are you, Miss Bell?” A demon and another man, this one dressed in plainclothes, were behind him.

“Where am I?” Cordelia asked, drawing the thin blanket around her. “What’s going on?”

“You’re at the Extranormal Crimes Headquarters.” The man in plainclothes explained. “My name’s Henry and this my partner Bendy,” the demon waved. “And my captain, Joey Drew.” The man in uniform nodded. “You were brought here after you were found being fed upon in an alley.”

“Where’s Elena? Is she alright?” Cordelia asked. If she’d survived, maybe Elena had as well. Henry looked to Joey, who set his lips in a thin line. 

“Miss, I’m afraid your friend is dead,” Joey said. Cordelia bowed her head, folding her hands in her lap.

“She didn’t suffer, did she?” She asked. 

“She died instantly. She didn’t feel anything.” Henry assured her. “There’s something else you should know, though.” Cordelia felt a weight settle in the pit of her stomach at his tone. 

“What is it?” 

“You’ve been turned into a vampire,” Bendy said. Cordelia could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She’d tried so hard to stay away from the supernatural. She’d tried so hard. The three men watched as she began to sob quietly. 

“We can take you to your brother if you like,” Joey suggested. “He’s been waiting for you to wake up.”

“Yes, please.” She said. Henry helped her up and guided her out of the office and through the precinct. There weren’t very many people in the station. All of them looked up pityingly as she passed by. Roy was sitting at a table with a man Cordelia didn’t recognize. They were talking quietly. 

“Mr Bell.” Joey cleared his throat. Roy jumped to his feet, running over to sweep his sister into a hug. At this, Cordelia started crying even harder. 

“I’m s-s-so sorry, Roy!” She sobbed. “I shouldn’t have been out that late! I should have called you! I-”

“Hey, Dee,” Roy lifted her chin up with one finger so she was looking at him. “Look at me. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But-”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” He repeated firmly. 

“But I’m a vampire now.” She sniffled. Roy pulled down his collar, revealing two bite marks on his neck. 

“So am I.” He said, smiling softly. “You didn’t think I’d leave you alone in this, did you?” Cordelia crumpled in on herself, apologizing even louder. She’d made her brother abandon his humanity. Roy picked her up and held her to his chest, patting her back as she cried. 

“It’s okay.” He assured her. “We’re going to be okay.” After a few minutes, Cordelia stopped crying and Roy set her down. 

“I talked with Mr Drew, and he agreed to let us work here,” Roy said, keeping a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be working in the morgue with Mr Lawrence, and I’ll be working with Mr Polk. They’re both vampires as well, and they’ll help us get acclimated.”

“Please, call me Sammy.” The man Roy had been talking with got up from the table.

“Thank you, sir.” Cordelia bowed to Sammy. “You’re very kind.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Sammy said. 

“We should probably start working,” Roy suggested, patting Cordelia’s shoulder. 

“Alright.” Cordelia nodded. Sammy gestured for her to follow and she did, waving to Roy as she went. They descended down into the basement of the precinct, both walking in complete silence. 

“How much do you know about working in a morgue?” Sammy asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

“Not much, sir,” Cordelia said. “I’m sorry, I-”

“No need to apologize.” He stopped her. “You’ll learn.” Then he opened the doors and beckoned her in. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn’t cold. A side-effect of becoming a vampire, she supposed. 

“Um, sir?” She trailed behind Sammy as he went to put on his scrubs. 

“Yes?” He didn’t turn around, digging around in a locker. “Give me a minute, I need to get some scrubs for you.”

“The…The one who turned me,” she began. “Did you…Is he in custody?”

“He is.” Sammy turned around, a small set of scrubs in his arms. “Put these on. You can change in the bathroom.” 

“You caught him?” Cordelia’s eyes widened. “He…He won’t bother me anymore?”

“He’s going to jail for a long time,” Sammy said. “Forced conversion is a very serious crime. Not to mention he violated a restraining order and killed someone.”

“He’s…He’s going to jail.” She took the scrubs, feeling on the verge of tears again. This time, though, it was out of relief. He wouldn’t be bothering her again. She was safe. She was finally safe. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. 


	5. Wedding Bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sammy's tasked with writing a speech for Cordelia and Joshua's wedding. He gets completely wasted in order to do it.

It was happening. Joshua and Cordelia were getting married. Sammy couldn’t believe it was actually happening. He’d hoped he’d be able to break them up before this happened. He knew that was selfish and he knew he was being a prick. Both Cordelia and Nancy had chewed him out about it more than once. Joshua had stayed the fuck away from him. And the worst part about this whole marriage thing? Joshua had made Sammy his best man. Well, technically Sammy and Chris were co-best men, but the point was that Joshua had appointed Sammy  _ a _ best man. Because of this, Sammy was expected to write a speech. And he didn’t know what he was supposed to say. As far as he was concerned, Cordelia was like a little sister to him, maybe even a daughter, and everyone knew he didn’t consider Joshua anywhere near good enough for her. 

“I have no idea how to do this.” He groaned, angrily folding the laundry.

“There must be something you like about Joshua,” Susie said, handing him some socks to fold. Sammy just groaned louder. Aria sat a few feet away, playing with the toy piano her parents had gotten her for her birthday.

“You can be nice to him.” Susie patted his head. “I’ve seen you do it before to those corporate bigwigs Joey brings in. You can do it for the most important person in Cordelia’s life.”

“What do you think?” Sammy asked, looking at his daughter. “Do you think Daddy can be nice to Mr Foster?”

“Uh-uh.” Aria shook her head, not looking up from her toy piano. “It’s not in your nature.” 

“You really are my kid.” Sammy sighed. 

“Look, you can do this.” Susie knelt and held her husband’s face in her hands. “And if you need to, get as drunk as humanly possible. God knows you’re going to need it.” Sammy nodded and finished folding the laundry. No one could say he didn’t try when writing the speech. He wrote the best speech he possibly could. But on the day of the wedding, Nancy still cornered him.

Sammy was fixing his bowtie in the bathroom when Nancy slid in. She took out a makeup bag and started touching up her makeup. 

“You better not ruin this for them,” Nancy said, touching up her eyeliner. “This is one of the happiest days of their lives and I don’t want you being a dick to Joshy.”

“I won’t.” Sammy rolled his eyes. “You heard my speech. It’s not bad.”

“Yes, but I know you’re going to get completely wasted so you can do this, and you’re unpredictable when you’re drunk.”

“It was Susie’s idea.” 

“And please, try to be civil,” Nancy said.  

“I’m civil! When have I not been civil?” Sammy threw his hands in the air.

“Every time you’ve been around Joshua,” Nancy said dryly. “Look, he made you best man. You better not screw this up, or I’ll fucking kill you.”

“Yeah yeah. I know.” He muttered. 

“You ready, man?” Chris poked his head into the bathroom. “We’re on in five.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Sammy sighed. 

The ceremony was a small affair, both parties not wanting anything big or flashy. Father Lawrence was officiating, as a favour to Nancy. Despite all his protestations on the matter, he had been genuinely pleased that Nancy had asked him. Roy walked Cordelia down the aisle, and when the two read their vows, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. Then came the dinner. Roy, Chris, and Nancy all gave lovely speeches about the bride and groom that touched the hearts of everyone in attendance. Then it was Sammy’s turn. He’d started drinking when they’d gotten to the dinner venue and hadn’t stopped. He stood up, very obviously drunk. Nancy already had her head in her hands. Norman was filming, as usual. 

“When I first heard that Cordelia had started dating the punk kid who looked after Henry’s house, I was pretty pissed. I didn’t want Cordelia associating with that kind of person.” Sammy slurred, leaning heavily on the table. “But...It wasn’t my decision, nor was it Roy’s or anyone else’s. She’s a grown woman. She needs to make her own decisions and I need to accept that. God help me when my actual daughter gets old enough to date. It’s gonna be a nightmare for all of us.” He stumbled a little, looking over at Joshua. “I still don’t like you, Foster. I don’t think you’ll  _ ever  _ be good enough for my intern. But you make her happy. God...God knows no one at the studio can make her smile the way you can. So...I wish you the best of luck. Both of you. I think you’ll make amazing parents and even better spouses to one another. Congratulations.” Then he sat down, lest he fall over. 

“I knew you could do it.” Susie kissed his cheek. 

“I’m gonna be so hungover after this,” Sammy muttered. Aria just patted her father’s shoulder. After the speeches were over and they’d all eaten and danced, Cordelia and Joshua came over to the Lawrence-Campbell family. 

“Thank you,” Cordelia said, giving Sammy a big hug. “I really appreciate that you took the time to write that speech.” 

“I think that was the closest you’ve ever come to giving me your blessing,” Joshua said. “So, thanks.” 

“No problem,” Sammy mumbled, managing to smile a little. “I...It was the least I could do.” 

“Thank you,” Cordelia said again, kissing his cheek. Then she was swept back to the dance floor by Joshua. All in all, it was a good wedding, even if Sammy was vomiting his guts out the rest of the night. 


	6. Shattered Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written in @disneyphantomlover's False Protagonists AU. I had a lot of feelings and needed to get them out.

So [this](http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/169884314015/i-got-so-deep-into-character-as-cordelia-last) happened, and I had to get some Cordelia feelings out.

* * *

 

She knew Boris wasn’t Sammy Wes. She knew that. It wouldn’t be fair of her to try and make him into the man she’d once known. But she missed Sammy so much. She hadn’t realized until he’d disappeared how close to him she’d actually become. He was family to her now. The day she’d realized he was missing, she’d had a similar feeling to the one she’d experienced when her parents had died.

“He’s probably fine.” One of her classmates tried to assure her when she brought it up. “Besides, he seems like the kind of person who’d just take off without a word.” She wasn’t proud of the way she’d reacted to that statement. She’d broken the girl’s nose in her anger, but thankfully no charges were pressed. 

“You should file a missing person’s report,” Roy told her when she asked him. “You can’t fix this problem on your own, Dee.” So she’d done that. She went to the police and filed the report. The police were polite, but they echoed the sentiment of her classmate. She left the police station, her whole body shaking with barely contained rage. Once the anger passed, though, anxiety set in. The police hadn’t taken her request seriously. They wouldn’t be looking all that hard. Her anxiety only grew when she realized Norman and Wally were also missing, both after visiting the old studio. All roads lead back to Joey Drew. She almost wished she hadn’t gone back as well. The thing she found...It wasn’t Sammy. Not anymore. It didn’t remember who it was. It didn’t remember  _ her _ . She ran like her life depended on it. Out of the studio and away from her past. But no matter how far she ran, she couldn’t escape. She had nightmares every night of Sammy coming to her in that inky state. 

“You abandoned me!” He always said. “You could have stopped me from going back!” She woke up every time in tears. In the weeks and months following her discovery of her idol’s fate, she tried to commit suicide again. She filled the bathtub up with water and prepared to drown herself. If Roy hadn’t seen her note on the table as he’d been about to leave for work, she might have succeeded. He caught her just as she was about to get into the bathtub, fully clothed. 

“Let me go!” She screamed, struggling in his grip as he hoisted her up. 

“I’m not losing you too!” He yelled back. He dragged her into the living room, where she buried her face in his chest and just sobbed. 

“Do you want to talk?” Roy whispered, stroking her hair. They’d been in the same position after their parents had died. Cordelia had been an inconsolable wreck, trapped in a spiral of grief and denial. 

“I m-miss Sammy.” Cordelia cried into her brother’s chest. “I want him back! Why did Joey have to take him?!”

“Joey’s a bastard,” Roy said, keeping his voice calm and even. They hadn’t talked about what Cordelia had seen at the studio. Cordelia had refused to say a word on the subject, always avoiding Roy’s questions when it came up. Her answers to the police had been vague at best, which frustrated the officers to no end. 

“We need to talk about what you saw at the studio,” Roy said after a few minutes. 

“I know.”

“Did you see Sammy?”

“...Yes.” Cordelia curled up further. 

“What happened?”

“I...I went down to the music department and...He was there.” Cordelia spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully and trying not to break down. “He was made of ink and he didn’t recognize me. He tried to sacrifice me! It wasn’t him! Why?! Why did Joey take him away?!” She broke down in tears again, beating at Roy’s chest and screaming about what a bastard Joey was. Roy stayed calm, continuing to stroke her hair. Inside, he was furious. He hadn’t been particularly close to Sammy, but he’d spent a few late nights with him and Brent, drinking and pouring out their troubles to one another. He’d liked Sammy. Sammy had been a good man. He’d been so relieved when Cordelia had returned from her first day at the studio with a big smile on her face and stories about how amazing Sammy was. Roy hadn’t wanted to hate his sister’s hero. He, however, had no qualms about hating Joey Drew. Joey Drew on his own was nothing special, a garden variety dreamer who cared more about himself than anyone else. But that man, Murray Hill, _he’d_ been the one to turn Joey Drew into a monster. Still, a monster was a monster. And Roy vowed that if he ever saw Joey again, he’d sock the man right in the face. 

 

Years passed and the Bells tried to move on. But Sillyvision cast a long shadow. Cordelia still woke up almost every night with nightmares and every year on the anniversary of Sammy’s disappearance she was reduced to a wreck of a human being. She didn’t try to commit suicide again, but Roy had caught her lingering under the water in the bathtub more times than he would have liked. Still, life went on. Cordelia became a teacher. She threw herself into her job, working hard in an attempt to forget about Sammy and Sillyvision. But more than a few parents knew of her association with the studio, and people rather liked to ask questions. She put on brave face for the questions before locking herself in her office for the rest of the day. Then the phone call from Henry came. He’d been summoned back with a letter. Cordelia told him not to go back, terrified he’d end up like Sammy. He went anyway.  _ And he got out.  _ Cordelia was, of course, happy he hadn’t died. Secretly, though, she wished it had been Sammy who made it out. It was selfish and she knew it. But she couldn’t help herself. So she busied herself with her work to keep her mind off her jealousy. She was at her desk the day Henry called to invite her out to the cabin. The phone rang, but she was too deep in music theory to register. A moment or so later, Roy tapped her on the shoulder. 

“It’s for you.” He said, handing her the phone. 

“Hello?” Cordelia took the phone, holding it to her ear as she got back to working on the next week’s lesson plan.

“Hey, Cordelia. It’s Henry.” She froze at the sound of his voice.

“Henry. It’s nice to hear from you.” She forced herself to smile and sound jovial. Sillyvision had been all over the news for the past month or so and it was all because of him. Reporters and police had been showing up at the house, at her work, everywhere she went. She wanted to forget. She wanted to put it behind her. 

“I know you’re probably dealing with a lot right now, but I was hoping you had some time to meet a few people.” He said. Meet a few people? She frowned. What on Earth could he have been talking about? 

“Well, it is Spring Break right now.” She said. “I do have some time.”

“I understand you’re probably angry that I dragged up the past.” He obviously remembered the strongly worded message she’d left him after the first batch of reporters had shown up at her door. “But I think you’ll want to meet them.”

“I said I had time, Henry.” She said. “I’ll come. Just give me the address.” He told her and she scribbled it down before hanging up. 

“So, you’re going to visit Henry?” Roy asked, taking back the phone. 

“Sure looks like it.” Cordelia sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I hope I don’t regret this.” 

The next day they were driving up to the cabin. All of Cordelia’s buried feelings were bubbling to the surface again. She wanted to believe that maybe Sammy had made it out. Maybe Henry had saved all the people who had disappeared. Maybe everything was going to be alright. Of course, she knew this was likely nothing more than a fanciful daydream. Life didn’t work like that. She had managed to compose herself by the time they arrived at the cabin but knew she was teetering on the brink. Henry and Becca were waiting for them on the porch. The two siblings got out of the car and walked over.

“Did...Did you save him?” Cordelia asked, out of hope more than anything else. “Is Sammy here?” Henry and Becca exchanged a glance before Henry answered. 

“It’s...a long story,” Henry said. “But...No. Sammy didn’t make it out.” Cordelia lowered her head. 

“I...Is it alright if I use the restroom?” She asked, forcing a crude approximation of a cheery smile on her face. 

“It’s at the back of the house.” Henry nodded. He, Roy, and Becca moved to the sitting room to wait for her to come back. Cordelia made her way through the house, looking for a quiet place where she could cry. Sammy hadn’t made it out. He was gone. He was really gone. And she hadn’t done a thing to try and save him. She found a room in the back of the cabin and ducked inside, already feeling on the verge of a complete breakdown. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. Inside the room were three other people. Bendy, Alice, and Boris. The three toons were sitting on the floor playing card. They immediately got up when she entered, their card game forgotten. 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She quickly tried to get herself together. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

“ **_Why’re you cryin’?_ ** ” Bendy asked, his little face furrowing up in a frown. “ **_You aren’t hurt, are ya?_ ** ” She couldn’t believe this. She was literally talking to Bendy the Dancing Demon. So Joey’s experiments had done something after all. These must have been the people Henry wanted her to meet. 

“It’s, um, it’s nothing.” Cordelia tried to wipe her tears away. “You know us women, always so emotional.”

“ **That’s a load of hooey if I ever it.** ” Alice sounded almost like a teacher scolding a young child. “ **Tell us what’s wrong** .” 

“It’s nothing, really.” Cordelia tried to back out of the room to avoid the subject. She didn’t want to burden the toons with her personal problems. Hell, they probably didn’t even know who she was. Henry had probably rescued them from the studio fairly recently.

“ **Miss Bell, please,** ” Alice begged. Cordelia blinked. 

“You...You all know who I am?” She asked. “But you’ve never met me before.”

“ **_Henry told us about you._ ** ” Bendy quickly tried to cover. 

“ **He said you lived around here and you were really nice!** ” Alice said. “ **He told us if we were good he might let us meet you someday** .” Cordelia was one of the few members of Sillyvision that had survived, aside from Henry himself. Henry had a vague knowledge of what was going on in Cordelia’s because be occasionally called up Roy to see how they were doing. Other than that, the Ross and Bell families had very little contact. 

“He’s being too kind,” Cordelia said, smiling sadly. 

“ **So, why’re you crying?** ” Bendy asked. 

“I...Henry told me Sammy didn’t make it out of the studio,” Cordelia said slowly, searching for the words that wouldn’t send her back into a fit of tears. “I...I know it’s stupid. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up that he’d survive that place.” Her voice hitched a bit as she fought to keep herself composed. “I just...I really miss him.” She broke down, falling to her knees and sobbing. Alice walked over to kneel beside the woman, patting her back gently. Throughout all of this, Boris had stood stock still in the back of the room, just staring at Cordelia. 

“ **_What’s with the long face, Bo?_ ** ” Bendy asked without thinking.

“ **‘S nothin’,** ” Boris said, averting his gaze from the woman on the floor. 

“I’m sorry.” Cordelia tried to get up, tried to get out of the room filled with the three toons. It wasn’t fair for her to thrust this on them. She collapsed to her knees almost immediately. 

“ **Why don’t you sit down?** ” Alice suggested, guiding her to a chair in the corner. A corner that happened to be very close to Boris. The wolf bristled a little as Alice helped Cordelia over to the chair and sat her down. God, she looked so old. Gone was the bright and bouncy girl the studio had known. In her place was a tired middle-aged woman who couldn’t rid herself of the past. Her makeup was rather worse for wear now, due to all her crying. The concealer had been washed away in places, revealing her freckles. 

“ **_Your face is comin’ off!_ ** ” Bendy yelled as Cordelia rubbed some concealer off her face. 

“It’s just makeup,” Cordelia assured him with a weak smile. “Don’t worry.”

“ **Why are you covering up your freckles?** ” Alice asked. “ **They’re really cute!** ” The image of Cordelia all the adults held in their minds was a small, freckled girl with a bow in her hair. One who was a bit excitable, very emotional, and too caring for her own good. 

“You sound like Wally. He always said, ‘Your freckles are a God-given gift, lil lady! Never cover ‘em up!’” She laughed. “I think he only said that because he has freckles.” She abruptly stopped laughing. 

“Had.” She whispered, correcting herself. “Had freckles.” Her shoulders shook, her body threatening to spiral into another crying fit. 

“Sorry.” She took a shaking breath. “I...I haven’t talked this much about the studio in ages. You’d think after 30 years the wounds would have closed up. Guess not.” 

“ **Are...Are you okay?** ” Boris asked. Cordelia looked up at him, surprised for a moment before smiling softly. 

“I’m fine, Boris.” She said. “Just having a bit of a bad-”

“ **That’s not what I meant,** ” Boris said. “ **Are you okay?** ” Cordelia’s smile quickly faded and she hung her head. 

“...I’m better than I was in the past.” She said. “I haven’t tried to kill myself in 20 years, so that’s a plus. The nightmares are less frequent now. But...I don’t think I’m ever going to be okay. I can’t ever be the way I was before Sillyvision. Some part of me is always going to stay in that studio.”

“ **Well, we all know that feeling,** ” Alice said, patting Cordelia’s back. Cordelia nodded, bringing her hand up so it rested on Alice’s. 

“ **Did...Did you go lookin’ for Sammy?** ” Boris asked after a moment. “ **Henry said he was real important to you.** ”

“Of course!” Cordelia abruptly turned her gaze on Boris. “I had to find out what happened to him! I-” She stopped, setting her lips in a thin line. “I couldn’t let Joey take him from me. He’s family.” There was a bitterness in her voice that all three toons were surprised by. Cordelia’s free hand, buried in the folds of her skirt, formed a tight fist. 

“ **You didn’t go back to the studio, did you?** ” Alice asked. She didn’t remember seeing the former intern there, but it was perfectly possible that all of them had terrorized her. 

“...I did.” Cordelia said. “It was a mistake. I didn’t find Sammy. I found a monster.” She began to shake again. “He didn’t recognize me at first. Even when he did, it didn’t matter. That thing wasn’t Sammy. It had his voice, sure, but it wasn’t him.” 

“ **You...Saw Sammy at the studio.** ” Alice said slowly. “ **Why didn’t you tell anyone?** ” 

“I didn’t have the heart to tell Sarah or Brent or Abby. Figured it would break their hearts.” Cordelia said. “And...I panicked. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I just wanted to forget. I thought it would be easier, I guess. But there’s no point anyway, now. He’s gone. For good.” There was a sort of grim acceptance in her voice. 

“At least he’s finally free now.” She smiled sadly. “He doesn’t have to suffer anymore.” If only that were true, though. Boris shifted uncomfortably. He was feeling similar feelings to the ones he’d had when he’d seen the picture of Sarah Greene. Cordelia had been important to Sammy. She’d been the closest thing to a daughter Sammy had ever had. Her presence was making him feel like Sammy again, and he didn’t like it. He wanted to be Boris. 

“Anyway, I’m sorry about all this.” Cordelia got up and dusted herself off. “I shouldn’t have bothered you with my past issues.”

“ **_Don’t sweat it,_ ** ” Bendy said. 

“ **We’re just glad you’re alright now,** ” Alice said. “ **It was rather worrying when you came in here crying like that** **_._ ** ” 

“I’m sorry for worrying you.” Cordelia bobbed a curtsy. “In any case, it was nice meeting all of you. I hope we can spend time together again.” Then she turned and left. She had to admit, she did feel better after getting all that off her chest. Maybe she would be alright. At least, she thought that until she got to the living room and saw Roy’s grim face. 

“What’s wrong?” She asked, sitting down beside her brother. 

“I’m assuming you met the toons?” Henry said. 

“I did. They were who you wanted me to meet, right?” 

“Yes.” Henry nodded. 

“I’ll go check on them.” Becca quickly got up and went to the back of the house to find the toons.

“They’re very nice.” Cordelia managed a smile. “Boris was a bit quiet, though. I didn’t expect that.”

“Ah.” Henry set his lips in a thin line. 

“Henry, what’s wrong?” Cordelia was really beginning to get scared now. “Why do you both look so upset.”

“The toons used to be people at the studio,” Roy said. “They’re the ones whose bodies they couldn’t find. Joey, Wally, Susie, and-”

“Sammy.” Henry finished. 

“You said he didn’t make it out!” Cordelia jumped to her feet. 

“He didn’t,” Henry said. “Not...Not really. The toons are using the bodies of Joey, Wally, Susie, and Sammy.”

“That’s how they knew my name when I walked in on them.” Cordelia slowly sat down. She felt like crying again. She’d been right in the first place. Sammy really was gone for good. Part of her wanted to be furious at whichever toon was using the body of Sammy Wes Lawrence. But more than anything, she was angry at Joey Drew. 

“I know this is a lot to take in, but I wanted you to know,” Henry said. 

“How many other people know this?” Cordelia lowered her head so she was staring at her own shaking fists in her lap. 

“I’ve kept in in the family,” Henry said. 

“Don’t forget Joey’s brilliant idea to lie to Wally’s daughter about the identity of Boris,” Roy said dryly. Cordelia nodded. She felt numb. She sat there for the longest time, barely listening as Henry and Roy talked. Henry and Becca extended an invitation for the Bell siblings to spend the night at the cabin. 

“I don’t think either of you is in any condition to drive.” Becca had said. So the siblings had relented. Roy was sleeping on the couch due to his bad leg and Cordelia was sleeping on the floor. They’d laid out an air mattress for her and everything. She laid there in the dark, long after everyone had gone to sleep. This time, she didn’t cry. She was just so tired. She wanted to sleep forever. Maybe then she’d finally be able to see Sammy, Wally, and Susie again. After a few minutes of tossing and turning she got up, tying the bathrobe Becca had provided around her waist and headed to the kitchen. She needed to make herself some tea. Evidently, she wasn’t the only one who’d had that idea as she found Boris there as well. 

“Hey.” She smiled tiredly. “Don’t mind me. Just came to make myself some tea.” She slipped past him, beginning to gather the ingredients. 

“ **Henry toldja what happened, didn’t he?** ” Boris rumbled, holding the bottle of ink to his chest.

“Yeah.  He did.” Her shoulders slumped a bit. There was silence in the kitchen for a few minutes. Cordelia busied herself with making her tea, trying to keep from throwing her arms around the cartoon wolf and begging for Sammy to come back. That wouldn’t be fair to Boris. 

“ **I’m not him, you know** .”

“I know.”

“ **And I’m real sorry-** ”

“You have no reason to be.” She tried to keep her voice calm, but there was an unmistakable quaver there. “I never should have said all that I did. It put unfair pressure on you. You’re not Sammy. I shouldn’t expect you to be.”

“ **You didn’t know.** ” Boris’ grip on the ink bottle was so tight there was a risk he might crush it. He didn’t want to be here, alone with her. 

“I’ll go.” She picked up her mug. “I can tell I’m making you uncomfortable.” It wasn’t the first time she’d repelled someone with her presence. She hadn’t exactly been Miss Popularity back in school. She left without another word and Boris was finally alone. Guilt immediately came crashing down on him. He didn’t want to make her feel bad. She’d been nothing but nice to him. But she was a part of Sammy’s past. And he wanted nothing to do with Sammy.


	7. Mended Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sequel to Shattered Hopes, where people make up.

The next day, Becca took Cordelia, Alice, and Bendy out to have a nice picnic near the lake. She figured Cordelia needed some cheering up, and Alice and Bendy had been begging to go down to the lake ever since they’d gotten to the cabin. Boris had been begging to go down to the lake as well, but due to the excitement of the previous day he’d decided to sit out. Not to mention, the further away from any memories of Sammy, the better. That left Roy, Henry, and Boris alone in the cabin. Henry holed himself up in his office to write, while Roy had set up shop on the couch. Boris had stayed in his room for most of the day, until his own rumbling stomach forced him into the kitchen. He found Roy there, just as he’d found Cordelia there the previous night. Roy made a vague affirmative grunt as Boris grew closer. Boris relaxed a little. Roy had never shown any interest in cartoons or the studio. Sammy barely knew him. Boris didn’t have to worry about any rogue Sammy feelings while around the former actor. So he hummed to himself and fished a bottle of ink out of the refrigerator. When he turned, he found Roy was staring at him.

“ **Can I help you, Mr Bell?** ” Boris asked, genuinely curious and honestly freaked out. Roy was not someone you wanted to have staring at you. He had a nasty habit of looking perpetually tired and angry, and the large scar covering the left half of his face didn’t help. 

“What happened last night?” Roy asked. 

“ **P-Pardon?** ” 

“What happened last night?” Roy repeated, leaning heavily on his cane. 

“ **Nothin’ happened, sir. Other than me getting some ink in the middle of the night that is.** ” Boris didn’t need to access Sammy’s memories to know that Roy was more than a little overprotective of his sister. After the reporters had started showing up outside the houses of anyone associated with Sillyvison, Roy had paid the Ross household a visit. Boris hadn’t been there to see what had happened, but he’d certainly heard Roy use some....creative threats against Henry. Boris certainly didn’t want to end up on the wrong side of Roy’s temper. 

“Boris,” Roy’s voice was soft. “Please don’t lie to me.” Boris’ ears flattened against his head and his tail went between his legs. He whimpered softly. Roy sighed, and suddenly he looked years older. He leaned on the counter, as if his cane wasn’t able to support his weight anymore. 

“Dee’s really upset and I don’t know why.” He said, looking at Boris with tired eyes. “If she were sobbing, I could deal with it. If she were angry, I could deal with that too. But she’s just...defeated.”

“ **I don’t see what I could do,** ” Boris said, desperately hoping Roy wasn’t about to ask him to pretend to be Sammy. 

Roy ran a hand through his greying hair. “Look, I’m not asking you to be Sammy for her. That wouldn’t be fair to either of you. But Sammy’s not the only reason she wanted to work at Sillyvision, you know.”

“ **I’m...Not sure what you mean, sir.** ” Boris admitted. 

“Before she ever met Sammy, she loved your cartoons.” Roy explained. “She always dragged me to the theater to watch them. It didn’t matter what movie was playing, she just wanted to watch the cartoons beforehand.” Well, now Boris felt even worse. 

“ **What do you want me to do?** ” Boris asked.

“You’re a musician, aren’t you? Play music with her.” Roy turned and started to hobble back to the couch. “She doesn’t know how to play clarinet, but she can play piano.” Boris hesitated slightly at that. Again, he was reminded of Sammy’s memories. Sammy had taught Cordelia how to play piano in their spare time. Along with Susie, the three of them had often had singing sessions together. He retreated to one of the back rooms to try and forget. It would have been easier if Alice and Bendy had been there to remind him that he was Boris. 

It was a few hours before Becca, Henry, Bendy, Alice, and Cordelia returned. Bendy and Alice were excited, practically bouncing off the walls with how amazing their trip down to the lake had been. Cordelia was a little more subdued, trying to force a smile for everyone else.

“ **So, what’s it like being a teacher?** ” Alice and Bendy had been pestering Cordelia with questions ever since they’d left, not that she minded. It was a good distraction.

“ **_Is it fun?_ ** ”

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” For once, Cordelia could answer honestly. “I love my students. The look on their faces when they finally understand something, when they’re having fun, there’s nothing like it.” She smiled softly. “My favorite thing is when they come back and tell me how much my class meant to them. I like being able to make a difference in their lives.”

“ **Do you think you could teach us some songs** ?” Alice asked. “ **That would be absolutely wonderful!** ”

“ **_There’s no way you’re as good as Boris, but we might as well see what you’ve got,_ ** ” Bendy said. 

Cordelia laughed. “I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations. Is there a piano in the house?” This question was directed towards Becca and Henry. 

“There’s one in the back,” Becca said, looking at Bendy and Alice. “I’m sure you two know the way.”

“ **_Boy, do we!_ ** ” Bendy grabbed Cordelia’s hand and started dragging her away. “ **_C’mon, toots! Let’s see what you can do!_ ** ” Alice followed along after them, pushing Cordelia from the back. Cordelia was smiling despite herself. It was like being back in the classroom, having her students beg her to play them a song. Her songs were always a special treat for when they’d been good. Bendy and Alice  _ had _ been good. They stopped when they got to the door to the room. Someone was already playing the piano. Cordelia’s smile vanished. Boris was in there and she knew it. 

“I should go.” She said, turning away. “I don’t want to bother him.”

“ **_What? No!_ ** ” Bendy whined, pulling on her arm. “ **_I wanna hear you sing!_ ** ”

“ **Please?** ” Alice begged. “ **We’ll talk to Boris.** ” Cordelia hesitated, stepping back. 

“Okay.” She finally nodded. “Go on.” Bendy and Alice nodded and headed in. Boris stopped playing when he heard the door open but relaxed upon seeing Bendy and Alice. 

“ **Did Y'all enjoy your trip to the lake?** ” He asked. 

“ **It was a lot of fun.** ” Alice nodded enthusiastically. 

“ **_We missed you, though_ ** .” Bendy walked up and slapped Boris’ back. “ **_You could’ve played fetch! There was a whole big grassy patch and everything!_ ** ”

“ **I’ll come next time,** ” Boris assured him. 

“ **So...We have something we need to ask you.** ” Alice began fidgeting a little. “ **We have Cordelia outside and-** ” 

“I’ll go.” Boris immediately got up, making a break for the door. 

“ **_Hey! Siddown_ ** !” Bendy’s arm stretched, catching Boris and dragging him back. “ **_You can’t run away from this, Bo._ ** ”

“ **I can sure try,** ” Boris muttered.

“ **You’re both hurting.** ” Alice gently touched her friend’s shoulder. “ **You need to talk it out** .”

“ **But I don’t wanna.** ” Boris sounded very much like a child as he said this. Bendy started giggling a little, only to be silenced with a look from Alice. 

“ **She’s probably listening at the door. You both know that, right?** ” She folded her arms and looked decidedly disapproving. 

“I’m not!” Cordelia’s voice came from outside.

“ **Well, this whole thing is ruined.** ” Alice sighed. They didn’t even get to talk the whole thing with Boris out. Now they couldn’t even talk because they all knew Cordelia was listening.

“ **You can come in.** ” Boris hunched his shoulders. The door opened and Cordelia sheepishly entered. 

“ **_Geez, when did you become a snitch?_ ** ” Bendy asked. 

“I picked it up from Norman.” 

The whole room went quiet at that. Everyone avoided looking at one another, shuffling uncomfortably. 

“So...Songs.” Cordelia sat down next to Boris and stretched her hands. “What do you like to play?”

“ **Why don’t you play something first?** ” Alice suggested. Cordelia nodded, setting her hands down on the keys. Then she began to sing. 

“"O Mrs. McGrath, " the sergeant said. "Would you like a soldier of your son Ted? With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat. Now Mrs. McGrath would you like that?" With your too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa. Now Mrs. McGrath lived on the shore, and after seven years or more. She spied a ship come into the bay with her son from far away. "O Captain dear where have ye been? You been sailing the Mediterranean? Have you news from my son Ted? Is he living or is he dead?"” 

Boris began to sing along with her, his deep voice matching perfectly with Cordelia’s. 

“With your too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, with your too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa. Then came Ted without any legs, and in their place two wooden pegs. She kissed him a dozen times or two and said, "My God Ted is it you? Now were ye drunk or were ye blind when ye left yer two fine legs behind? Or was it walking upon the sea that wore your two fine legs away?" With a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, with a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa. Now I wasn't drunk and I wasn't blind when I left my two fine legs behind. A cannonball on the fifth of May tore my two fine legs away. "My, Teddy boy, " the widow cried. "Yer two fine legs were yer mother's pride. Stumps of a tree wouldn't do at all. Why didn't ye run from the cannonball?"” 

By this point, Cordelia and Boris were smiling at each other. Boris moved over so that he was playing with her. “With a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, with a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa. With a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, with a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa. "All foreign wars I do proclaim, live on blood and a mother's pain. I'd rather have my son as he used to be than the King of America and his whole Navy!" With a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa, with a too-ri-aa, fol-did-dle-di-aa, too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa.” The song ended and the two were left staring at each other. Then Alice and Bendy started clapping. 

“ **_That was great!_ ** ” Bendy said, grinning. “ **_You two sound great together!_ ** ”

“ **I knew you could work it out!** ” Alice clapped her hands together. Cordelia laughed and brushed some hair behind her ear. 

“I never thought I’d get to play a song with  _ Boris the Wolf _ .” She said. This made Boris smile as well. She’d acknowledged him as Boris, and even seemed a bit starstruck. 

“ **_What? You a fan of Bo?_ ** ” Bendy smiled mischievously. 

“A little,” Cordelia admitted. “Sheep Songs was always my favourite episode, mostly because of Boris.”

“ **Well shucks.** ” Boris’ tail started to wag. Cordelia turned her attention back to the piano, her smile fading a little bit. 

“It’s been a long time since I played a song with anyone.” She admitted, running her fingers across the keys of the piano. “I forgot how much I enjoyed it.” She looked over at Boris. “Maybe we could do this again.”

“ **I’d like that.** ” Boris said. Yes, she did remind him of his past as Sammy, but maybe he could get past that. She was a fan of his, she’d said so herself. So maybe they’d be able to be friends. Maybe this would be alright. 


	8. Sammy Makes A Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sleep-deprived Sammy makes a bad decision regarding Joshua.

Sammy was running on very little sleep and a lot of coffee. It was deadline week and no one was okay. Not really. Every emotion seemed to be amplified, especially Sammy’s distaste for Joshua. Joshua had been dropping by a lot to help out as much as he possibly could and Sammy was not having it. His annoyance at Joshua’s presence had caused a fair few spats between the music director and the tattoo artist. Joshua was similarly tired and irritated and similarly was not having any of Sammy’s shit. Due to his sleep deprivation, Sammy had decided he was going to throw a wrench into Joshua’s lunch plans with Cordelia. He was dimly aware that it was a terrible idea, but he didn’t really care. He wanted Joshua to not be a threat anymore. So he snuck into Joey’s office and fished out one of his boss’ spell books. He flipped sleepily through the book until he found a spell that he vaguely thought might work. He waited until Joshua showed up in his office looking for Cordelia and sprung his trap. As soon as the flames began to rise around the circle, he knew he’d made a mistake. But it was too late, the flames had consumed the young tattoo artist. When they receded, a small toon sat in Joshua’s place. It was the size of a small child, and had little fluffy wings and a halo. He resembled a rejected sketch for a cherubim character.

“Are you my creator?” The little toon asked, staring up at Sammy with wide eyes. Sammy froze. 

“.....Yes.” He said slowly. Toon Joshua’s face lit up and he latched onto Sammy’s leg. 

“It’s so nice to meet you, Daddy!”

Oh God. He was in so much trouble. Joey was going to kill him. No, Susie, Nancy and Cordelia would. He groaned internally.

“Uh, why don’t you come with me, squirt?” He forced himself to smile as he pried the toon off his leg. “We’re gonna go meet Joey. He’s the head creator.” 

“Okay!” Joshua beamed up at Sammy. Sammy grabbed the book and left. Almost immediately after he set foot out of his office, he was met by Bendy.

“Hey, Sammy!” Bendy said brightly. “Who’s the pipsqueak?”

“My name’s Joshua!” Joshua proclaimed proudly. “Mister Sammy made me!” Sammy grimaced as Bendy gave him the most disapproving look he’d ever seen the little demon make. He was never going to hear the end of this. He was sure of it. 

“You’re toast, pal,” Bendy said.

“You have no idea how painfully aware I am of that.” Sammy said through gritted teeth. Joshua looked from Bendy to Sammy, rather confused. Why was the nice demon mad at his creator? Mister Sammy was nice!

“Look, I’m just gonna take him to Joey.” Sammy tried to assure Bendy. “I’ll get this fixed.” 

“Fixed?” Joshua asked, his brows knitting in worry. “Are...Do you not want me?”

“Nonononono!” Sammy tried to backpedal. “You’re fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.” It was then that Joshua started crying, thinking his creator didn’t want him. Sammy almost felt like crying as well. He didn’t want to have to deal with a crying child. He tried to calm Joshua down as he made a beeline for Joey’s office. He slammed the door open, wild eyed and on the verge of a breakdown.

“HELP.” 

Joey looked up from his paperwork, blinked, then sighed heavily. “The collective women of your life are going to kill you. I hope you know that.”

“I’m aware! Now help me fix this!” 

Joey got up from his desk, walking over and taking Joshua. He cooed softly, bouncing the little toon gently. Sammy didn’t really feel like asking how Joey knew how to calm crying babies. Eventually, Joey got Joshua to stop crying. 

“You’re really nice,” Joshua said, staring up at Joey.

“Thank you, I try.” Joey replied. “Now, would you like to help me with something?” Joshua nodded. Joey handed Joshua back to Sammy and started to work drawing a pentagram. 

“Which spell did you use?” He asked, all business. Sammy set the book on the floor and flipped it to the page he’d been on. 

“Ah, alright.” Joey nodded. “Yes, I can help.”

“What are you guys doing?” Joshua asked, kicking his legs aimlessly. 

“We’re going to make you better.” Sammy replied without thinking. 

“Am I bad?” Joshua asked. 

“No, you just didn’t...come out right.” Sammy tried to cover his tracks. “I want you to be the best possible you that you can be.” He forced himself to smile. It was hard to believe that this cute little thing was the same tattoo artist that had seduced his intern. He almost felt bad for hating Joshua. But he knew once this was over Joshua would be back to normal and he’d continue to get on Sammy’s nerves. As Joey finished the pentagram, Cordelia entered. 

“Mr Drew, have you seen...Joshy...” Cordelia trailed off upon seeing Sammy, Joshua, and Joey. 

“Hi miss!” Joshua waved enthusiastically. “You’re really pretty!” A strangely calm look spread across Cordelia’s face and she smiled. 

“I’m going to go call Nancy.” She said, turning around. “She’s going to want to hear this.”

“Cordelia, wait-” Sammy tried to catch her, but she was already gone. He was really going to hear it now. Joshua looked curiously at Sammy. 

“She’s really mad at you.” He giggled. 

“Yeah, I know.” Sammy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Susie was probably going to hear of it, which meant he was sleeping on the couch that night. It was his fault, though, and he knew it. Joey finished assembling the ritual and gestured for Sammy to hand Joshua over. Joshua took one look at the ritual and burrowed into Sammy’s chest, whimpering. 

“C’mon, kiddo,” Sammy said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“But it looks scary!” Joshua said. “I don’t wanna! You want to get rid of me!”

“Hey,” Sammy gently lifted Joshua’s face so they were looking at each other. “Look, I messed up. You’re not supposed to be....like this. You’re a human, not a toon.”

“Then why am I a toon?” Joshua asked. “I like being a toon!”

“I...You’re dating that girl who just came in. She’s my intern and I get a little...protective of her.” Sammy explained. “Turning you into a toon was a bad idea. I don’t know why I did it. I just...I wanted you out of the way.” The betrayed and hurt look on Joshua’s face broke Sammy’s heart. God, he really had been a bastard to the kid. 

“We should do this before Nancy gets here.” Joey said. Joshua was put in the middle of the circle, curling into a little ball. 

“Why don’t you wait outside?” Joey suggested. Sammy nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. A few minutes later, Nancy came storming into the studio, flanked by Susie and Cordelia. Both Susie and Nancy looked positively livid, and Cordelia was just smiling. That was almost worse. He had a feeling she was going to be putting salt in his coffee instead of sugar for the next weeks. Nancy grabbed him by his lapels, practically hoisting him into the air. 

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!” She yelled. “YOU DON’T JUST TURN SOMEONE INTO A CARTOON!”

“I know.” Sammy’s shoulders slumped. “It was a bad idea.”

“It was more than just a bad idea.” Susie said coolly. “Really, Sammy. This crosses a line.” Cordelia stood behind them, hands folded in front of her, just watching him.

“At least tell me Joey’s in there fixing this.” Susie continued. 

“If he’s making it worse, I’m getting a baseball bat.” Nancy growled. “You should be thankful we’re family or else I’d kick your ass.”

“I know.”

Just then the door opened and Joshua came stumbling out. Immediately, Cordelia’s creepy smile faded and she ran over and threw her arms around him. Nancy did the same. Joey exited the room as well. 

“We’re going to have to talk about this, you know.” He whispered to Sammy.

“I know.”


	9. Sammy Makes A Mistake Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Sammy's mistake.

In the aftermath of what would be referred to as The Foster Incident, Sammy got more than a few talking-to's from the various members of the studio. The most serious of these came from Henry and Joey, both of whom impressed upon him how dangerous using magic on other people was. Sammy nodded and interjected at all the appropriate moments. He was tired more than anything else. He felt like a terrible person for resorting to what he had. From that day forward, he decided he’d be nicer to the Foster kid. He’d been a giant dick and Joshua wasn’t a bad kid. He stopped snapping at Joshua, he was polite at the very least and even called him by his first name once in a while. This sudden change in attitude absolutely terrified Joshua.

“Is something wrong with Sammy?” Joshua asked one day when he was on a lunch date with Cordelia. 

“I don’t think so.” She said. “Why?”

“He’s been acting real weird around me lately, Dee.” He said. “Any idea why?”

“Susie got on his case.” She replied without missing a beat. 

“Oh, okay.” He had heard Nancy and Susie yelling at Sammy the day he’d found himself waking up in Joey’s office. No one had told him what had happened that day, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Sammy’s sudden change in attitude. Which led him to go talk to Sammy. 

“Mr Lawrence?” Joshua opened the door to Sammy’s office. “I need to talk to you.” Sammy sighed when he heard Joshua’s voice. 

“What is it, Joshua?” He asked. 

“I need to know why you started acting differently towards me.” Joshua closed the door behind himself as he entered. “It’s honestly starting to freak me out a little.”

“Thought you’d be glad,” Sammy said, shrugging. 

“What happened to change your attitude toward me.”

“I turned you into a cartoon.”

“....What?” Of all the things Joshua had expected to come out Sammy’s mouth, that was not one of them. “Like, um, by accident?”

“No. On purpose.” Sammy hadn’t even turned around. “I was sleep deprived and wanted to ruin your lunch date. You were actually pretty damn cute. You thought I was your creator.”

“And that made you feel bad,” Joshua said, almost dumbly. 

“Yes. I didn’t want to let you down. But that wasn’t the only reason.” Sammy finally turned around to look at Joshua, looking tired and beleaguered. “I made a mistake in turning you into a cartoon. I crossed a line. I realized I’ve been a complete asshole to you. You’re a good kid and you don’t deserve how terrible I’ve been to you.”

“That’s...surprisingly mature of you.” Joshua wasn’t even sure that this was the same man who’d terrorized him for so many months. 

“Thanks. It was a learning moment.” Sammy smiled slightly. Joshua turned and left, rather confused by this conversation, but felt at least a little happy. He’d finally gotten through to Sammy. 


	10. Full Blast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Lala

_ The bass, the rock, the mic, the treble _

_ I like my coffee black just like my metal _

_ With the bass, the rock, the mic, the treble _

_ I like my coffee black just like my metal _

 

_ Cause I can't wait for you to knock me up _

_ In a minute, minute, in a fuckin' minute _

_ I can't wait for you to knock me up _

_ In a minute, minute, in a second _

 

The one day Cordelia came in sick just had to be the day Shawn decided to start blasting rock music. The second she stepped into the studio, her ears were assaulted with the sounds of something between metal and rock. Normally, she wouldn’t have minded this kind of music, but she was tired and her head hurt, so she was not having this. Not even bothering to hang up her coat, she stormed down the stairs. 

“Oh, hey lil lady.” Wally looked up from mopping. “You look awful. You feelin’ alright?”

“I feel like fucking death.” She said flatly. “Now where’s that song coming from?”

“Geez.” Wally winced. “Um, the song’s from the toy department. Shawn’s in a bad mood so he’s playing his music real loud to spite Joey.”

“Great.” She nodded and kept going down the stairs. A small crowd had gathered outside the toy department, whispering and staring. A good portion of the staff was trying to get Shawn to turn the music down, but Shawn ignored them. After a few minutes, Sammy and Susie came storming down and started yelling at Shawn. Cordelia was right behind them.  Shawn turned around, staring flatly at them. 

“TURN THIS FUCKING MUSIC OFF!” Sammy screamed. “NONE OF US CAN GET ANY WORK DONE!”

“No,” Shawn said, then turned back to his work. 

“Shawn, please,” Susie begged. “We’re all so tired.”

“My head is pounding,” Cordelia growled. “I can’t take this.”

“I’ll turn it off if Joey apologizes,” Shawn said, refusing to turn around. “He was a right bastard yesterday and he’s gonna pay for it.” Susie, Sammy, and Cordelia spent a few more minutes trying to get Shawn to shut off the music, but had no luck. By the time they exited the room, Wally had shown up. 

“Why aren’t you bothered by this?” Sammy asked. 

“I introduced him to the band,” Wally replied. “I love this stuff!” 

“Yeah, well, the rest of us need to work,” Cordelia said. 

“Have you seen Joey?” Susie asked. “We need to get him to apologize to Shawn so he’ll turn off the music.”

“Easier said than done,” Sammy muttered, wrinkling his nose. “Joey’s a stubborn bastard.”

“It’s worth a try.” Susie gave him a big smile. Cordelia just muttered curses and followed the older woman. They found Joey in his office, groaning and trying to cover his ears. Cordelia walked up and slammed her hands on the table. 

“Make it stop.” She begged.

“I wish I could.” He looked up at her. “But Shawn won’t listen to me.”

“He wants you to apologize to him,” Sammy said. “For whatever it is that you did yesterday.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Joey protested, standing up. 

“Obviously you did something.” Susie pursed her lips. “He said he was blasting the music because of you.” Joey collapsed back into his desk, groaning even louder. 

“So are you going to apologize or should we get Henry?” Sammy asked. If worse came to worst, they could get Henry to twist Joey’s arm. Henry could always get Joey to apologize. Cordelia laid her head on the desk, sniffling. 

“I hate this.” She said. 

“Please don’t...leak on my desk.” Joey looked over at her, scooting away. Cordelia narrowed her eyes. 

“Make Shawn stop.” She smiled slowly. “Or I’ll sneeze on your desk.” Sammy snorted and Susie tried to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. 

Joey’s eyes widened. “You wouldn’t.” 

“I feel like death. I am willing to do whatever it takes to get that music to stop.” She smiled in a very devious and dangerous way. “So if you think I won’t sneeze all over your nice desk, you are very very wrong.”

“Fine! I’ll do it!” Joey got up and pointed at Sammy and Susie. “Make sure she doesn’t contaminate anything!” Susie and Sammy stood aside as they boss sprinted out of the office. Cordelia then collapsed into a chair. 

“You think I’ll get fired?” She asked. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Sammy patted her head. “We’re all tired. We all want the music to stop. Besides, he’ll probably take credit for the idea on his own.”

“Probably.” Susie laughed softly. It was then that Henry arrived at work. He’d been taking his kids to a doctor’s appointment and thus had been gone for most of the morning. Arriving to pandemonium wasn’t what he’d expected. Wally explained what was going on at the same moment that Joey finally got Shawn to stop the music. Throughout all this, Grant, Thomas, and Norman had put in earplugs and gone about their days. They honestly didn’t care. 


	11. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy prepares a gift for his valentine.   
> Chris belongs to @Gears112

Roy hadn’t tried to woo anyone in literal years, maybe decades even. His last relationship with a stage magician hadn’t ended well, which had been his fault. He’d broken up with the magician after the accident, afraid that his boyfriend would leave him due to his change in appearance. His rationale had been to just rip the bandage off. He’d hoped his magician would hate him and distance himself, but the plan had failed. His darling magician had forgiven him. Roy would have been lying if he said he didn’t still love the magician. Things changed, though. His magician had moved on, so Roy was trying to move on as well. He had to admit, he hadn’t thought much of Chris when he’d first met him. But Roy often didn’t think much of people. He had become cynical as he’d gotten older. Still, he’d seen the tattoo artist again and again and slowly...he’d begun to find the other man tolerable. Well, more than tolerable. He liked Chris. There was something so comforting about Chris’ boundless enthusiasm and kindness. 

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Roy muttered to himself, adjusting his bowtie as he stared at himself in the mirror. He’d already bought a Valentine’s Day present for the tattoo artist, wrapping it when his sister was out so she wouldn’t give him a hard time about it. It was then that Cordelia walked in, dressed to the nines for her own date that day, and noticed his attire and the present. 

“Oh my God, are you going to ask someone out?” Her whole face lit up. “You are, aren’t you?” 

“Dee.”

“This is amazing! You haven’t asked anyone out in years!”

“Dee.”

“Who is it? Oh! It’s Chris, isn’t it? Oh, Joshy and Nancy will be so happy to-”

“Cordelia Elise Bell.”

Cordelia abruptly stopped, eyes wide. “You haven’t used my full name since I was 12.”

“I’m sorry.” He turned away, grabbing a brush and running it through his hair. “I needed you to stop talking.” She shrugged, walking up to stand behind him. 

“So...Who is it?” She asked, grinning. 

“....It’s Chris.”

Cordelia squealed and clapped her hands together, beginning to jump around. Roy groaned quietly to himself, tugging his boater hat onto his head. 

“I never thought you’d move on after M-” Cordelia started gushing. 

“Don’t say his name.” Roy quickly cut her off. “I don’t want to think about him. I’m trying to move on.”

“Right. Of course.” Cordelia’s demeanour softened. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Roy sighed. “Look, I’m just going to go give this to him, alright?” 

“We can go over together,” Cordelia said, holding out her hand to him. “I have to head to the parlour to get Joshy, anyway.”

“That would be nice.” Roy smiled slightly. 

 

It had been a slow day at the Ink Spectre Parlor. Nancy was spending Valentine’s Day with her family, so Chris was manning the front desk. They’d only had a few customers come in, most of whom were couples looking to get commemorative tattoos. Chris had managed to talk most of them out of it. Helping kids make rash decisions wasn’t something that sat particularly well with him. He didn’t even look up when Cordelia entered, just waving her to the back where Joshua was working. It was when Roy entered that he finally looked up. Roy didn’t come to the tattoo parlour too terribly often, and Chris always got a little nervous when he did. He didn’t know how the former actor felt about him. 

“Oh, uh, Roy. Hey.” Chris smiled nervously. “You’re probably here for Dee. Let me go get her-” He started to get up to go find Cordelia, but Roy stopped him. 

“No.” He said, putting a hand on Chris’ shoulder. 

“Sorry?” Chris looked a bit panicked. Roy’s facial expressions were unreadable even on the best of days. 

“I’m here for you, Chris.”

“You...You are?” Chris’ eyes widened. 

Roy nodded and held out a wrapped package. “This is for you.”

“Thanks.” Chris took the package and unwrapped it. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. Inside the paper was a brand new sketchbook along with a box of rather nice coloured pencils. Both looked to be of rather good quality, likely purchased from a high-end art store. 

“I didn’t know what you’d like,” Roy admitted. “But I figured this was a safe bet. You are an artist after all.”

“This is...” Chris was at a loss for words. “I-I can’t accept this. It must have cost a lot.” He tried to hand it back to Roy, but Roy just pressed it back against Chris’ chest. 

“Please, I want you to have it.” He gently insisted. 

“Well, uh, thanks.” Chris looked down at the sketchbook. “This is...It’s beautiful.” He almost didn’t want to use it. It was so nice. 

“Do you like it?” Roy asked as if it had suddenly occurred to him that he should have asked that.

“Yeah, I love it.” Chris smiled up at Roy. Roy felt his heart skip a beat. 

“I’m glad.” He said, looking away. “Are you...Are you doing anything tonight?”

“Are you asking me out?” Chris could hardly believe what he was hearing. 

“What do you think?” Roy self-consciously fixed his bowtie.

“Roy, I would love to go to dinner with you,” Chris said, reaching out to take Roy’s hand. “I get off work at 7.”

“I’ll pick you up then.” Roy lifted Chris’ hand to his mouth and kissed it before quickly fleeing. Cordelia and Joshua watched from the back room. Cordelia was trying very hard not to squeal. It was happening. Her brother was shedding his shell!


	12. Prophet of the Opera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write a self-indulgent Phantom of the Opera chapter.  
> Joshua belongs to @Gears112

The Joey Drew Opera house was famous for a number of reasons, not the least of which the insanity of its namesake. Joseph Drew had opened the opera house with his best friend Henry Ross when the two of them had been young. Joey’s silver tongue had netted them all the benefactors they could possibly desire, and the opera house was soon thriving. People traveled from all over the country to partake in the luxuries that the opera house provided. They were attracted by the compositions of Sammy Lawrence, the songs of Susie Campbell, the beautiful scenery, and the incredibly produced operas. Joey had a vision and he was going to execute it. For a long time, the opera enjoyed its fame and the employees enjoyed a modest salary. However, things could not continue this way. Slowly, Joey began to slip into madness. His productions became increasingly lavish and his demands increasingly ridiculous. More and more employees began to leave the opera house, including Henry. Then Sammy Lawrence disappeared. Many presumed him dead, judging from the burned out shell of his dressing room. But no body was ever found. Still, the ensuing police investigation was enough to scare many away from the opera house. Joey was forced to close down the place he’d worked so hard to create. Wally Franks found him hanging from the rafters when he came in to clean one morning. After that, Henry came back to the opera house. He worked to rebuild it to the place it had once been. Slowly, employees began to return. Despite Joey’s influence being gone, something still lurked in the depths of the opera house. A ghost of the days long past, one who wanted revenge on the opera house that had ruined him.

 

“From the top again, please.” Susie Campbell nodded and gestured to the girls to begin again. Once, she had been a great diva of the opera house. But that had been when she’d been young. Now she was the teacher for the young women who came to the opera house seeking fame and glory. Did she miss the old days? Yes. But she’d known from the moment she became an opera singer that she had a shelf life. Besides, she got on rather well with the new diva, Allison Pendle.

“How’s everything going?” Henry asked, opening the door to the practice room. The girls abruptly stopped singing, all whispering to one another and giggling. They were still excited about seeing the owner as often as they did.

“Nothing to report here, Mr. Stein.” Susie gave him a smile. “But I imagine you’re not here just to check on us, are you?”

“I’ve told you, please call me Henry,” Henry said. “But, yes, I do have a reason for coming here.” He took a step back and called to someone in the hallway. “You can come in now.” The sound of footsteps came closer, and soon a young man entered. He was dressed in fine clothing but seemed uncomfortable with the finery.

“May I introduce to you, Joshua Foster.” Henry put a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “My godson and our new benefactor.” This sent whispers through the gathered choir girls. All of them had heard of Joshua Foster. His father, Jonathan Foster, had been a war hero. His son had followed in his footsteps and had amassed a small fortune through his efforts.

“I hear he’s rejected every marriage proposal he’s gotten.”

“I heard he fell for a childhood friend of his and he’s been looking for her for years!”

“He’s so much more handsome in person.”

“Do you think he has tattoos?”

In the back of the room, one of the choir girls tried to duck her head and stay out of sight.

“What’s wrong?” Allison whispered to her friend. Cordelia Bell was a minor choir girl who had arrived at the opera house barely a year before. She was shy and soft-spoken, with a fairly good voice. She and Allison had become friends almost the first day they’d met.

“I _know_ him,” Cordelia whispered back.

“Wait, _he’s_ Joshy?” Allison’s face lit up. “Oh my God! You didn’t tell me you were childhood friend with _Joshua Foster_!”

“I didn’t think it mattered!” Cordelia tugged at the bow in her hair. “I didn’t think I was ever going to see him again!”

“Girls.” Susie’s chiding voice snapped them out of it. “We have a visitor. Why don’t you settle down?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Allison and Cordelia said together. Susie and Henry talked for a few minutes while Joshua stood awkwardly beside Henry, scanning the sea of choir girls. For a moment, his eyes met Cordelia’s. That was the moment Henry led him out of the choir room. Allison smiled mischievously at Cordelia, who was blushing

“Alright, girls.” Susie clapped her hands together. “In honor of Mr. Foster’s patronage, we’ll have a special show tonight. Allison, you’ll take the lead as always.” Allison looked at Cordelia, grinning.

“Don’t you dare,” Cordelia whispered.

“Miss Susie, I don’t feel well,” Allison announced, coughing dramatically. “I don’t think I can sing tonight. Cordelia should take my place.”

“Allison!” Cordelia hissed, pulling at Allison’s arm. Susie sighed and shook her head. She knew Allison wasn’t going to give this up, no matter what.

“Alright.” She said. “Cordelia, you’re going to be taking the lead on this one. Allison, go rest.” Allison winked at Cordelia before running off.

“At least pretend you’re sick!” Susie called after her.

“Yes, Miss Susie!”

And so began preparations for that night’s performance. Cordelia was absolutely terrified, but she had to do this. Allison was counting on her. Not to mention, she had to impress Joshua. Not that she’d admit that part. Susie was completely focused on preparing the young singer but found she had little to worry about.

“You’re very well prepared for this,” Susie said, raising an eyebrow. “Have you been taking lessons behind my back?”

“Well, maybe a few.” Cordelia shuffled her feet and wrung her hands.

“With who?” Susie asked, settling down beside her young student. “Are you seeing someone?”

“N-No! Nothing like that!” Cordelia went bright red. “He’s more like a big brother to me!”

“He?” Susie grinned. “So it is a man.” Cordelia buried her hands in her face and groaned. Susie laughed and put an arm around her protégé’s shoulder.

“So, tell me about this mysterious man.” She said.

“I don’t know his name,” Cordelia admitted. “But he’s been giving me lessons. He heard me singing and said he thought I had talent.” She smiled softly. “He told me he’d help me fulfill Roy’s dream.” Cordelia’s brother Roy had been an actor in the opera house in its heyday, and a rather good one at that. So good that a jealous co-star had tossed a bucket of scalding water in his face. Roy had been burned so badly he’d been forced to quit his job as an actor. Cordelia had joined the opera hall so she could become famous for him.

“You don’t know his name but you’re letting him teach you.” Susie sighed. “Sweetie, that doesn’t seem safe.”

“I know.” Cordelia hunched her shoulders. “But he’s so nice. I trust him.”

“Even the nicest people can be dangerous.” Susie squeezed her shoulder. She’d learned that the hard way with Joey Drew.

“I’ll be careful.” Cordelia insisted. “Really!”

“Alright, sweetie.” Susie patted her head and got up. “I have to go coach the other girls. But you better keep practicing.”

“I will.” Cordelia nodded as Susie left before turning back to her music sheets. She wanted to trust the man who had been teaching her. He was just so nice. He’d promised to help her achieve Roy’s dream. He couldn’t be bad, right?

“Is something wrong, my dear acolyte?” The voice of her teacher washed over her, immediately putting her at ease. “You seem troubled.”

“I’m alright.” She said.

“Is it the presence of that upstart young man?” Her teacher asked, an edge entering his voice.

“No, Joshua isn’t the problem.” She shook her head. “I’m happy he’s here. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

“You know him?”

“We were childhood friends.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I used to have the biggest crush on him.” She laughed and shuffled the music sheets.

“Then what exactly is bothering you?” Her teacher drew closer but still remained outside of her line of vision.

“I...I told Susie about you.” Cordelia admitted. “She told me I shouldn’t trust someone whose name I don’t even know. Not to mention, I’ve never seen your face.”

“You would be repulsed by me, my child.” Her teacher said. “But I suppose Susiebell is right. I should give you something to call me. Call me _the Prophet._ ”


	13. The Vampire Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A request from Gears112 for Joshua and Cordelia in a supernatural/vampire universe.

Joshua had expected a lot of things from his life. Being murdered in an alley was not one of them. And yet, here he was, bleeding out in an alley after being mugged. He wondered if Henry was going to be angry with him. Henry had told him a thousand times not to go through the alleyways. He should have listened to Henry. Everything was starting to go dark. He felt so cold. As he slipped out of consciousness, he could have sworn someone was running towards him. The next thing he knew, he was laying in a bed. He felt...warm. There was a heavy blanket over him.

“Joey’s going to have a fit. I hope you know that.” The voice of a man came from somewhere near him. “You know how he feels about turning people.” His voice was smooth as silk, the kind of voice Joshua imagined he’d hear on a radio.

“Well, he didn’t sire me. He can take it up with Sammy. Besides, don’t you know who this guy is?” A woman said. She sounded pretty young. Definitely younger than the man she was speaking to. He knew those names, though. Joey was a friend of Henry’s, as was Sammy. Henry was always a little cagey about them, never answering any of Joshua’s questions about the two men. Henry didn’t like talking about his workplace period.

“Who is he?”

“He’s Henry’s kid!”

The man groaned. “Jesus Christ. This is going to be a shitshow.”

“What?! I saved Henry’s kid from dying! That’s got to count for something!”

So these people had taken him from the alleyway. Joshua opened his eyes slowly, looking around blearily. He didn’t recognize the room around him. There were blackout curtains on the windows so the room was warmly lit by candles. The space was rather small but cosy. Music sheets were all over the place, as well as various books, musical instruments, and bamboo canes. There were no mirrors, strangely. Almost immediately, a young woman appeared at his side. There was an unearthly beauty about her. He almost felt like he was looking like an angel.

“You’re beautiful.” He gasped, then slapped his hand over his mouth. She smiled and laughed, the corners of her eyes crinkling in a rather endearing way.

“Why thank you.” She said. “Are you feeling well?”

“Um...Yeah.” He nodded and sat up. “I got stabbed. Why do I feel so good?” It was almost as though he hadn’t gotten stabbed at all. He felt better than he had in literal years. The woman bit her lip and grimaced, revealing canine teeth that were a bit too sharp.

“Now comes the hard part.” A man walked up behind the woman, the owner of the silky voice. He too was ethereally beautiful, although half his face was marred by an ugly scar.

“Shut up Roy.” The woman swatted at the man’s shoulder.

“Fine, you explain it to him.” Roy put his hands up and left the room. The woman turned back to Joshua, wringing her hands.

“So, um, this is gonna sound a little crazy.” She smiled nervously. “But I’m a vampire. And to save your life, I had to turn you into one too.”

“....What?”

“Which part confused you?” The woman asked.

“...All of it?” He said. “Who even are you?”

“Oh! Silly me, where are my manners?” She laughed. “I’m Cordelia Bell. I’m an intern at Joey Drew Studios.” She stuck out her hand, smiling brightly so that her fangs were visible.

“Um, nice to meet you.” He tentatively shook her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too!” She replied. “Although, I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

“Yeah...” It just then occurred to him what she’d said. She was a vampire. She’d turned him into a vampire. He let go of her hand and reached up to touch his teeth. He could very clearly feel the fangs where his canine teeth had previously been.

“Has it hit him yet?” Roy’s voice came from another room. “Because I expect he’ll start screaming when it does.”

“I will burn your bowties!” Cordelia yelled before turning to Joshua. “Excuse me for a second. I should probably call Henry.” Then she left the room. Joshua was left alone, just staring at his lap. Henry worked with vampires. He’d just met a vampire. Now he was a vampire. He wasn’t entirely sure how to react to this.

“You hungry?” Roy reappeared, holding what looked to be a glass of wine.

“Actually, yeah,” Joshua admitted. Whatever was in the wine glass smelled rather good. Better than anything he’d ever smelled before.

“Alright.” Roy walked over and held the wine glass out. “Fair warning, this is cow’s blood.” Joshua had been reaching toward the glass, but immediately paused.

“Cow’s...blood?” He repeated. Roy nodded, taking a sip.

“Blood bank delivery isn’t until tomorrow, so we’re making do.” Roy shrugged slightly. “You don’t have to drink it if you don’t want to, but if you stay hungry for too long things tend to get messy. Animal blood is a good stepping stone to human blood.” Joshua stared at the wine glass and the blood inside it. Maybe just one sip. He took the glass and put it to his lips. He’d gotten in one sip when the door was kicked open. As the glass slipped from Joshua’s fingers, Roy deftly relieved him of it and polished it off.

“MISS BELL!” Joey’s voice boomed through the house. Cordelia walked calmly out of the other room, bright and cheerful.

“Hello, Mr Drew.” She said, smiling at him. “Would you mind not doing that? It scuffs up the wall.”

“YOU TURNED HENRY’S CHILD?!” Joey looked positively demonic. He wasn’t a particularly tall man, but he seemed as though he towered over Cordelia in his anger. His fangs were clearly visible and his eyes glowed red.

“He was almost dead.” She replied, never letting her smile fade. “In order to save his life, I had to turn him.”

“I’m okay.” Joshua waved to him, despite being a little taken aback by this change in Joey’s demeanour. He’d never seen Joey this angry before.

“Ah, hello Joshua.” In an instant, Joey was back to the jovial man Joshua was used to seeing. “How are you feeling, my boy?”

“Surprisingly good.” Joshua managed to smile a little bit as Joey strode over and grabbed his hand. “Are...Are you a vampire too?” Joey nodded, a tad sheepishly.

“Yes.” He admitted. “I am one. As is Sammy.”

“Is Henry one?”

“No no.” Joey shook his head. “I offered, of course, but he declined. Perhaps he’ll agree now, though.” He said the last sentence with a slightly cunning look in his eyes, which made Roy roll his eyes.

“So, are most of the employees at the studio vampires?” The wheels in Joshua’s head began to turn. He needed to know what was going on.

“We have a lot of vampires, but we have werewolves too,” Cordelia said. “It’s mostly monsters who need a safe haven.”

“They use the human employees to avoid suspicion.” Roy sipped at his cow’s blood. “And occasionally me because no one wants to argue with someone they can’t even look in the eye.” Joshua nodded slowly.

“Can I see Henry?” He asked.

“He should be here soon.” Cordelia glanced towards the door.

“He’s closing up the studio,” Joey said. “He’ll be here eventually.”

It took a few minutes for Henry to show up, but he looked positively terrified when he did. He immediately ran over and wrapped his arms around Joshua, just holding him close.

“Henry, I’m okay.” Joshua patted his back.

“I’m so so sorry.” Henry murmured. “I should have been there for you. I shouldn’t have let you go home alone.”

“Henry, I’m an adult.”

“Ssh. You’re still my kid.”

 

Being a vampire didn’t turn out to be too bad. He was faster, stronger, had more enhanced senses. He also finally got to meet many of Henry’s coworkers, since he was now a part of the studio. But he also couldn’t eat garlic, couldn’t go near holy symbols, and couldn’t go out in the daytime. He could live with that, though. Especially since he’d met Cordelia through becoming a vampire. She really was a remarkable woman. She was completely different than what a stereotypical vampire was supposed to be. She was friendly, kind, and unflinchingly positive. He found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with her. This was hindered, however, by Sammy Lawrence. Sammy was the music director at the studio and the one who had turned both Cordelia and Roy. He was basically Cordelia’s father, and he did not approve of Joshua at all.

“Sammy’s just a little overprotective.” Henry tried to assure him. “Cordelia’s one of the few people he’s sired and he worries about her.”

“I don’t get why he hates _me_ , though.” Joshua groaned, leaning back in his chair.

“His father was a preacher,” Henry explained. “So his views can be a little...conservative.”

“So he hates me because I’m a tattoo artist.”

“Yes.”

Joshua muttered something that was probably supposed to be a curse. Well, that was something he was going to have to deal with. He wasn’t going to let Sammy get to him, though. Because he liked Cordelia a lot, and she liked him too. After she’d apologized over a dozen times for turning him without his consent she’d started complimenting his art and telling him he was handsome.

“Does she do this to a lot of guys?” He’d asked Wally one day, trying to gauge whether Cordelia was interested in him. Wally stared at him for a moment before starting to laugh uncontrollably.

“What’s so funny?” Joshua demanded, feeling his face heating up. “I don’t want to make a move on her unless I know she’s interested!”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s been awhile since someone asked that.” Wally wiped a tear away from his eye. “God, Sammy’s gonna eat you alive.”

“Is she interested or not?”

“She’s interested, trust me,” Wally said. “Girl was fantasizing about dating you way before you two actually met.” Joshua relaxed a little bit at that. The very next day, he asked her out to dinner. Sammy’s desk was destroyed, but Cordelia was delighted.


	14. 'Magical' Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A response to chapter 24 of Tales from Ink Spectre Tattoo Parlour by Gears112. Chris and Ruby belong to them

“So, who was that guy from the park?” Chris asked once they’d gotten back to his house. “You two obviously know each other.” Roy hesitated. God, he hadn’t talked about this in a long time. Ruby had presumably gone to bed, so it was probably safe to talk about it. He didn’t want to talk about heavy things while the little girl was around.

“His name is Matthias.” He finally said. “He’s my...ex-boyfriend.”

“Huh. No shit.” Chris leaned back. Roy stared at him for a moment. 

“You’re not...put off by this?” He asked. He’d assumed Chris would have some sort of reaction. People were supposed to have reactions to their partner’s exes, weren’t they? He’d had exactly two partners, so he didn’t really know.

“Why would I be?” Chris asked. “He seems like a nice guy. Bit flamboyant, though. I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone who actually wore a cape.”

“Yes, well, he’s a magician. It comes with the trade, apparently.” Roy couldn’t help but laugh. “Cordelia always said we were too dramatic for our own good.”

“What’s it like dating a magician?” Chris asked, leaning a little closer. “He pull rabbits out of hats for you?”

“A few times, yes. Pulling flowers out of his sleeves was his favourite way to cheer me up after bad days.” Roy smiled at the memory. “He was honestly a saint to put up with me for as long as he did.” He sighed. “He deserved so much better.”

“I understand if this is a tough question but...why did you two break up?” Chris moved a little closer, wanting to take Roy’s hand. This was obviously a difficult subject for the former actor. 

“It’s stupid.” Roy shrugged slightly. “After the accident, I...I thought he’d leave me. I thought he’d be disgusted and he’d leave me so I just broke up with him.” He laughed ruefully. “And Matt was just so damn nice about it. I really didn’t deserve him.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” Chris took Roy’s hand. “You were in a bad place. I’m sure he understood.”

“He did, and that’s why I don’t deserve him.” Roy’s shoulders slumped and he squeezed Chris’ hand. “He was so nice about it and he’s still so nice. I dumped him because I was being selfish and he was so damn nice.”

“You’re a good person, Roy.” Chris moved closer, wrapping his free arm around Roy’s shoulder. “Ruby wouldn’t have taken to you so much if you weren’t. Besides, I like you. And I don’t like selfish people.” Roy looked over at him, seemingly on the verge of tears. Then he smiled. 

“I just keep attracting people I don’t deserve.” He said, shaking his head. “You’re a remarkable man, Chris.” 

“Well, I try-” Chris started to say. Before he could finish though, Roy had moved closer and kissed him. Honestly, he’d wanted to do this for a long time. Roy was the one who pulled away first, but both of them were flushed. 

“I should be getting home.” Roy got up quickly, grabbing his coat. “I’ll...Uh...I’ll see you tomorrow.” He opened the door, hesitated, then looked back. “I love you.” A second later he was gone. At the top of the stairs, Ruby watched as he father sat on the couch. She squealed and retreated to her room. She couldn’t wait to tell Joshua and Nancy about this. 

Once Roy got back to his own home, Cordelia teased him mercilessly, as was her job as his sister. 


	15. Snooping Assistants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cordelia isn't too terribly fond of one Murray Hill. This Murray Hill belongs to @disneyphantomlover

Cordelia normally wasn’t one to snoop. After all, she worked for Joey Drew. The threat of being yelled at by him normally kept her in check. But she didn’t trust this new man, Murray Hill. Something about him just felt...wrong. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she knew he was bad news. Johnny told her she was blowing it out of proportion, but then again Johnny was Johnny. Norman, thankfully, shared her misgivings. 

“I don’t like the look of him.” He agreed. “The man’s shifty.” 

“So what do we do about him?” Cordelia asked. 

“We?  _ We _ aren’t going to do anything. It’s too dangerous for you to go poking around.” Norman said. 

“What?! But-”

“No buts, young lady.” Norman cut her off. “Something tells me this man isn’t someone you want to be messing with.” 

“But you’re going to keep investigating, aren’t you?” Cordelia said. 

“Not on purpose.” Norman folded his arms. “I’m going to do my job. If I find something, I find something.”

“But I want to help!” Cordelia demanded. She didn’t want to just let this man roam about unchecked around the people she’d come to see as family.

“Miss Bell, if Mr Hill does turn out to be dangerous, I don’t want to be the one explaining to your brother that I let you get involved in this.” Norman’s demeanour softened and he put a hand on her shoulder. He’d told her once that she reminded him of some of his grandkids. 

“I want to help,” Cordelia repeated weakly, aware of how much she sounded like a petulant child. 

“I know you do, sweetheart,” Norman said. “But for now, I’d rather you stay safe, okay?”

“Okay.” Cordelia hung her head, scuffing her shoes half-heartedly. 

“Miss Bell?” Joey’s voice came from down the stairs. “The animation department is running low on ink. Get them some, would you?”

“Yes, sir!” She called back. 

“You should get going.” Norman patted her back. Cordelia nodded. She headed out of the projection booth and up the stairs to the animation department. Maybe she’d try out that ink machine. It could produce a lot of ink, right? That’s what Joey had made it for, right? So she headed for the ink machine room, picking up one of Wally’s buckets along the way. She hummed to herself, entering the room. The ink machine was as intimidating as it always was. She faltered as she walked around the side, trying to figure out how exactly she was supposed to turn it on.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She froze and turned around very slowly. Murray Hill stood in the doorway, smiling placatingly with his arms folded. 

“Trying to turn on the ink machine.” She said. 

“And why are you trying to do that, Miss Bell?” 

“It makes ink, right? The animation department is out of ink.”

Murray laughed and shook his head in a manner that made Cordelia feel very much like he was mocking her in some way. 

“That’s not what it does.” He crossed the room and gently pulled her away from the machine. She recoiled from his touch, snatching her hand away.

“Well, what does it do?” She asked. 

“That’s a secret,” Murray said, winking at her. Cordelia gave him a deadpan look. 

“Alright, Mr Hill. That’s very funny.” She rolled her eyes. “Now what does this machine do? I’m sure Mr Drew wouldn’t have bought it if it didn’t do  _ something _ .” Murray narrowed his eyes slightly, giving her a long look. Cordelia folded her arms, drawing back instinctively. There was something about his gaze that made her deeply unsettled. 

“Do you really want to know what it does?” He asked, leaning in so that their noses practically touched. Cordelia took a step back, trying desperately not to break into a sprint right there and then. 

“On second thought...nevermind.” She said. She picked up her bucket and calmly made her way out of the ink machine room. She waited until she was in the music department to collapse against the wall and start crying. 

“Hey, Cordelia- Whoa, what happened to you?” Johnny asked when he walked up. 

“It’s...It’s nothing.” She said, trying to calm herself. 

“You wanna sit down or something?” Johnny moved closer. 

“I’m fine.” She took a deep breath, her hands curling into fists. Damn that Murray Hill. Damn him. 

“Okay...” Johnny shrugged slightly. “So...What are you doing?”

“Getting ink for the animation department.” She wiped her tears away and squared her shoulders. “Help me carry it.”

“But-”

“I know you’re not working.” She gave him a pointed look. “So help me carry the damn ink.” She knew Murray wasn’t all that fond of Johnny given how loud her fellow employee was, so maybe if she had Johnny with her, Murray would leave her alone. Unfortunately, she and Johnny passed Murray in the hallway while they carried the ink. Murray said nothing, just smiled at her and put a finger to his lips. Cordelia put her head down and walked faster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disneyphantomlover has been doing a lot with their Murray lately which has been giving me...ideas.


	16. Sammy Regrets His Life Choices

Inspired by [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13038963/chapters/35480772) chapter by Gears112. Ignore the fact that Susie appears in that chapter. 

* * *

It didn’t take long for word of Sammy’s…escapades to reach the ears of one Susie Campbell. She’d been with Henry, apologizing for missing the party. She’d had to go to a doctor’s appointment after briefly losing her voice. Henry himself looked rather nervous, although Susie wasn’t sure why.

“Are you alright?” She asked. “You’ve been really twitchy ever since I showed up.”

“W-What?” Henry laughed nervously. “I-I’m fine!” Susie gave him a deadpan look.

“Mm-hm.” She folded her arms. “What’s going on, Henry? What did Joey do?”

“It wasn’t Joey, this time,” Henry mumbled, his face bright red. “I, um, I kind of made a mistake at the party yesterday.” Just then, the door to the house was slammed open and Cordelia and Joshua walked in. Cordelia looked less than pleased, and Joshua looked at least a little shaken up.

“Henry.” Cordelia folded her arms. “We need to have a talk.”

“Did something happen?” Susie asked, frowning.

“Sammy drank some of the punch and started trying to make out with Joshy,” Cordelia said. “Explain yourself, Henry. Shawn said you were on punch duty.”

“He started what?!” Susie’s eyes widened and she tried to stop herself from laughing.

“It was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life.” Joshua nodded solemnly.

“So, what did you do?” Cordelia demanded.

“Well, um, Joey forgot it was his week to bring the alcohol so I had to throw the punch together pretty quickly.” Henry fidgeted under the gaze of the others in the room. “Joey has some premade punch mix that he keeps in the fridge, meaning I just had to add alcohol. But, um, Joey keeps all the alcohol in these potion bottles.”

“So, this is Joey’s fault?” Cordelia asked. It was a fair assumption to make. Usually, when something went wrong, it was because of Joey. Joey did not make good decisions.

“No, he’s started labeling the stuff,” Henry added quickly. “I should have checked what I was adding, really.”

“…Something tells me you didn’t add alcohol.” Joshua said slowly.

“No, I did. It was just…I’m not sure how to describe it exactly. It’s alcohol but…more?”

Everyone in the room was quiet, staring at Henry. Then Susie started absolutely howling. Somehow, the idea of ‘alcohol but more’ was absolutely hilarious to her. Henry went bright red, trying desperately to make himself smaller. Cordelia just stared at Henry, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.

“Alcohol…But more?” She said. “What…What does that entail?”

“Was it something Joey was working on?” Joshua asked. It certainly sounded like a Joey thing to be doing. Henry nodded.

“He was messing with some magic and trying to make stronger alcohol. God knows why.” He explained. “It, um, it fucks you up pretty good apparently.” Susie had to lean on a table propped against the wall to keep herself from falling over. She wasn’t sure why she found this so funny. She supposed it had something to do with its effect on Sammy. She already found the idea of Sammy making out with Joshua hilarious, especially since Sammy normally couldn’t stand the tattoo artist.

“W-Where is Sammy?” She managed to gasp out.

“Probably recovering at the parlor,” Cordelia said almost offhandedly.

“Nancy’s probably giving him a hard time,” Joshua added. “So, go easy on him.” Susie headed for the door before turning back and giving Joshua a mischievous smile.

“I make no promises.”

 

Sammy was indeed being given a hard time by his sister. He’d shown up at the parlor early in the morning with a killer headache and a feeling that he’d done something he really shouldn’t have. Almost immediately upon entering, he was met with Nancy, who had an absolutely massive shit-eating grin on her face. Even Jacob was holding back laughter. Sammy stared at her for a moment, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“…What did I do?”

“Are you sure you want to hear?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Yes, dammit.” Sammy snapped.

“You might get upset.” Jacob looked up from his book, smiling as well. Sammy’s stomach sunk even more. Just as Nancy was about to speak, Susie slammed the door open.

“YOU MADE OUT WITH JOSHUA FOSTER!” She yelled, pointing at him and practically howling with laughter. Sammy turned to look at her, a look of absolute horror on his face.

“I…What?” He looked back at Nancy, hoping she would say it wasn’t true. But Nancy just smiled. Sammy walked over to the couch, sat down beside his brother, and screamed into one of the courtesy throw pillows. Susie leaned against the door frame, continuing to laugh.

“It was pretty funny.” Nancy snickered. “Especially since you always act like you hate him. Who would’ve thought you’d actually have the hots for him.”

“I mean, he’s not an unattractive young man,” Susie said in between giggles. Sammy continued to scream until he ran out of breath. After that, he just stared at his lap in complete horror and disbelief. He needed to reevaluate his life choices.


	17. Parent-Teacher Conference

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cordelia meets someone who reminds her far too much of a man she's trying hard to forget. 
> 
> Warning; Does involve a panic attack

It had been years since Cordelia had gone back to the studio. She’d done her best to rid herself of her connections to that world, to those people. She had a good life as a teacher. Her students were the light of her life. She had friends who were there for her no matter what. She had a husband who stood by her despite all the times she’d woken up screaming and had to be held until she stopped crying. The nightmares had lessened in their frequency and intensity, which made her think that maybe she was finally getting over what she’d experienced working for Joey Drew. She’d been going to therapy for quite a while now, and the results definitely showed. She was happier than she’d been in a long time. She thought that she had put that whole business in the past. Although…She knew deep down that those memories weren’t ever going to leave her. Joshua and Roy had told her more than once that trauma didn’t just go away. It stayed with you in the back of your mind, even on the best of days. Still, she wanted so badly to believe that part of her life was over. But as it turned out, it had a way of coming back to haunt her no matter what.

It had been a relatively normal day, all things considering. The school day had gone by without any sort of disturbance or instance of strangeness. All the students were excited to bring their parents to school that night for the parent-teacher conferences. They wanted to show their parents all their teachers, their classrooms, and let them see everything they’d been doing. Cordelia always looked forward to these conferences as well. There were always some parents she didn’t like, but the majority of them were happy to hear about what their children were doing and how they were progressing. She’d just gone through the first few parents and was waiting for the next one to arrive. While she waited, she busied herself with getting out the appropriate papers. She had some concerns she wanted to address with Elizabeth’s father, such as Elizabeth’s refusal to work with other children on projects.

“Miss Bell?” She heard a man’s voice come from the door. Ah, that must be him now.

“Mr. Afton, hello-” She turned, ready to greet him warmly, but her words died in her throat as she saw him. It wasn’t…It couldn’t be…Her eyes widened and her breath started to quicken. She instinctively stumbled back, hands gripping onto the edge of her desk.

“Miss Bell?” The man before her tilted his head to the side. His smile was warm, but his eyes…

_His smile didn’t reach up to his eyes. They were cold and distant, like those of a dead man._

_“Come now, my dear. Won’t you be a good girl for me?”_

Suddenly she was an assistant again, face to face with Joey Drew in the Ink Machine room. The smell of ink consumed every fiber of her being, the machinery drowned out even the pounding of her own heart. Her whole body was shaking and she could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

“Are you alright?” His voice was warped, half his own and half Joey’s. He took a step towards her, a hand extended. The hand she saw was covered in ink. She couldn’t move. She wanted to scream, wanted to run. Why wouldn’t her body move? Sobs began to wrack her body as she drew into herself, crossing her arms protectively over her chest.

“Please, Joey, no.” She whimpered. “I’ll be good. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.” He stopped, eyes narrowing slightly as his head tilted to the side. There was recognition in his eyes, as well as ambition. They were the eyes of a predator now, bright and hungry. She’d said something that interested him. She dropped to the ground, breath coming in gasps as he stood over her.

“Cordelia? Are you in here? Joshua’s looking for you.” The moment was broken by the arrival of Lewis, who took one look at the situation and knew exactly what to do. He quickly apologized to Mr. Afton, ushering Cordelia out of the room as she began to full-on wail. Joshua was waiting in the lobby. As soon as Cordelia saw him, she ran over and buried herself against his chest. Joshua wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her and attempting to comfort her.

“I’ll go take care of Mr. Afton,” Lewis promised her before darting away. Joshua and Cordelia stood in the entrance for quite a while, neither saying anything as Cordelia bawled into Joshua’s shirt.

“What happened?” He asked once she’d managed to calm herself down a bit.

“I-I don’t know.” She took a shaky breath. “I was getting ready for Elizabeth’s conference and when I turned around I…It was like Joey came back from the dead.” Joshua didn’t press her further, stroking her hair and telling her it would be alright. However, he did find himself a bit curious about what exactly it had been about Elizabeth’s father that had set Cordelia off like this. Part of him worried that there was something far too similar about the two men.

“Why don’t we head home?” He suggested.

“But I have other conferences.” Cordelia protested.

“You’re not okay,” Joshua said firmly. “You can reschedule. It will be alright. The administration will understand.” And if they didn’t, he was going to make them. Cordelia glanced back in the direction of her classroom and let out a heavy sigh.

“Alright.” She conceded. “Let’s go.”

 

“I’m sorry about that, Mr. Afton.” Lewis reentered the classroom. “Miss Bell’s not feeling well tonight.” 

“I do hope it wasn’t something I did.” Mr. Afton said with a vague smile.

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Lewis assured him, brushing past to clean up the papers on Cordelia’s desk. “Sometimes the most random things can trigger bad memories. In any case, I think you’ll have to come back another night.” He didn’t want to admit it, but there was something about Elizabeth’s father that unsettled him. He honestly wasn’t surprised that Cordelia had reacted to him the way she had.

“I must admit, I am a tad disappointed.” Mr. Afton sighed, going to the door. “Elizabeth speaks so highly of her. I had hoped to meet her properly.”

“Well, hopefully, you’ll get to meet her later in the week.” Lewis gave him an apologetic smile. Mr. Afton just nodded and left the room.

William didn’t know too terribly much about Joey Drew and his cartoons. They’d been created and had their popularity before he’d been born. But if there was one thing William did know, it was that Joey Drew had been involved in something that he very much wanted to know about. When he and Henry had set up shop in this town, he’d heard murmurings about Joey Drew and his studio. Rumors abounded in a town such as this, and the rumors about what Joey Drew might have been delving into interested William. Especially the ones about Joey’s supposed practicing of black magic. And now he knew that his daughter’s teacher had some connection to Drew. He smiled to himself. He was looking forward to seeing her again.

 

The conferences were rescheduled for the next week, allowing Cordelia to compose herself and prepare for the next meeting she would have with William Afton. When he came to her classroom a week later, she was ready. When he entered, she rose to greet him, trying to push the image of Joey from her mind.

“Hello, Mr. Afton.” She held her hand out. “I’m very sorry about what happened last week.”

“It’s quite alright.” His grip was firm, his hand engulfed hers. She fought back her first instinct to scream and run. He was not Joey, she reminded herself. She was alright. She was going to be fine.

“Anyway, let’s get started.” She withdrew her hand, getting out her papers. “Now, Elizabeth is an excellent student and a pleasure to have in class.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” William sat down across from her. Cordelia breathed an internal sigh of relief as the conference progressed. This was comfortable. This was good. She could handle this.

“There is one thing I’m concerned about.” She paused, getting out a few more papers.

“Oh?” William raised an eyebrow.

“Elizabeth absolutely refuses to work with others on projects.” Cordelia put her hands down on the desk, her lips set in a thin line. “She, well, for lack of a better word…Doesn’t play well with others.”

“Mm.” William nodded slightly. He hadn’t said very much for most of the majority of the conference, smiling and nodding at all the appropriate points.

“Is everything alright at home?” She asked.

“Things have been…difficult, as of late,” William said, a shadow passing over his face. “My wife…She left us recently.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cordelia might have been tempted to reach out and touch his hand had he been any other parent. But she didn’t want to touch him again.

“Thank you.” William hung his head, running a hand through his hair. “I admit, I have been rather distant from the children as of late.”

“It’s always hard to lose someone you love.” Her heart felt heavy as she remembered all her friends from the studio, probably turned into inky abominations like Sammy had been. She took a deep breath to calm herself.

“I imagine Elizabeth must be taking this especially hard. She and her mother always were close. I should talk to her about it.”

“I can recommend you a good therapist if you need it.” Cordelia turned to reach into her purse. “I have her number here somewhere.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, but I appreciate it,” William said. “Although, I do have something I’d like to ask you.” Something about his tone of voice made the hairs on the back of Cordelia’s neck stand on end.

“…Yes?” She turned back to him cautiously. William smiled, almost sheepishly.

“You see, since I’ve arrived here, I’ve heard quite a few rumors about a man named Joey Drew.” He explained. “I was wondering if you could tell me a little about him and what exactly it was he did here.” Cordelia stiffened a bit.

“Well…” She took a deep breath. “He and his friend Henry Ross created a cartoon studio here in town back in 1929. Their cartoons were about a little demon named Bendy. I loved those cartoons when I was little.” She allowed a nostalgic smile to slip onto her face. “They were my entire childhood.”

“It sounds as though you have quite a connection.”

“I…I guess I did, once upon a time.” She pursed her lips. “But it’s been a long time. The studio really fell apart after Henry left.”

“How unfortunate.”

“It was.” Cordelia sighed and shook her head. “Joey started going off the rails and people started spreading a lot of rumors.” The well-practiced lie slipped out easily enough. “You’re probably wondering about the black magic rumors, right?”

“…Perhaps a little.” William gave her a small, lopsided smile. “The occult fascinates me quite a bit if I’m being quite honest.”

“I sincerely doubt Joey was practicing black magic, but I really can’t be sure.” She shrugged apologetically. “If he was, I certainly wouldn’t have known about it. I was just an assistant.”

“Ah, of course.” William laughed.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Cordelia said. “Joey was a nightmare to work for, but I’m fairly certain he was just a regular nightmare.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” William assured her, getting to his feet. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. I was rather worried I might have made a bad impression.”

“These things just happen sometimes.” Cordelia stood as well. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Afton. Take care.”

“You as well.” Then he was gone. Cordelia let out a sigh of relief she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding in. There was something unsettling about that man. He had Joey’s eyes. She hoped he wouldn’t turn out like Joey, but she had a feeling that hope was misplaced. She shook her head. She had other conferences to attend to. She couldn’t dwell on that. She sat back down at her desk and waited for the next parent to come in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this rattling around in my head for a while, but I decided to write it after I heard Never Be Alone by Shadrow. And it kinda pushed me to write it out.


	18. Becoming Toons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is from awhile ago.

[Another story starter](http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/166514989175/another-story-starter)

> By [@magicalmonsterhero](https://tmblr.co/mctfDpl6LStDVGfHpM3ZLTA)
> 
> About a month after the studio switched to a more modern animation style, Wally noticed some changes. Initially, it was small things–greater energy levels, more pronounced displays of anger or other strong feelings, and the like. Then Sammy got into an argument with one of the band’s saxophone players, ending with the former having a spastic outburst, throwing his music sheets on the floor and leaving the room in a huff. Joey had started sending the interns to a different coffee shop, hoping it would have some effect, but that didn’t work.
> 
> Then one day, Grant came in wearing sunglasses, which he wouldn’t remove no matter how much anyone told him to. When Wally finally managed to grab them, it was revealed that Grant’s eyes had changed to resemble those of a cartoon character.
> 
> Henry immediately went to find Joey.
> 
> (I did this one myself, but I was curious as to how you’d do it.)
> 
>  

“JOEY WHAT THE FUCK!” Wally yelled, gesturing wildly toward the accountant, who had put his sunglasses back on. All three of them had gone down to Joey’s office as soon as Wally had wrenched the sunglasses off Grant. Wally because he was making a scene, Grant because he needed to get away, and Henry because he wanted to know just what the everloving fuck Joey had done this time. It had to be Joey’s fault. Anytime something happened involving ink or toons, it was definitely Joey. Besides, the actual toons had been too busy to be playing any pranks. 

“It’s not as bad as it looks.” Grant said. “I can still see just fine, and it doesn’t hinder my ability to do my job.”

“Regardless, I’d like to know why our accountant is slowly turning into a toon.” Henry stood before Joey’s desk, arms folded, the perfect picture of a disappointed parent. The disappointed parent look was Henry’s greatest weapon. Everyone faltered under that gaze. 

“Well, I, um, you see…” Joey laughed nervously, pulling at his collar. “It’s not just him….” His lack of composure was especially worrying. Joey was always the perfect picture of poise and sophistication, except when he’d done something wrong and he knew he’d get caught. 

“DREW!” Sammy came storming into the office. He too had pie-cut eyes, and little patches of skin had turned white. 

“Sammy. Hello.” Joey tried to make himself smaller behind his desk. 

“YOU BETTER HAVE AN EXPLANATION, DREW!” Sammy roared, slamming his hands down on Joey’s desk. 

“So, um, as it turns out…” Joey began to wring his hands. “Some of the ink  _might_  have gotten into the coffee- Just a bit! Just a little!”

“So that’s why you’ve been getting the interns to go to an outside coffee shop for our coffee.” Grant sighed. “And here I thought you were just riding up expenses, as usual.”

“Yes, see? I had a reason.” 

“But it would have been nice if you’d simply told us you’d screwed up in the first place.” Grant gave his boss a withering look. “We’re going to be buried in lawsuits, I hope you know that.”

“Is everyone in the studio contaminated?” Henry asked. Joey shifted uncomfortably, continuing to laugh nervously. This, of course, was not a good sign. 

“Oh fuck me sideways.” Sammy said. There was the barest hint of a car horn in his voice when the music director swore, which caused the man to turn and kick the door. 

“We’re…We’re all gonna turn into toons?” Wally asked. 

“….Unfortunately.” Joey nodded. 

“I HATE THIS FUCKING STUDIO!”

“Thank you, Sammy, you’re being very helpful.” Henry said dryly. 

“Sir? Is everything alright?” Cordelia pushed the door open, Susie not far behind her. “I heard yelling.” She stopped when she saw Sammy and Grant. Then she stood up straighter, turned, and walked away very slowly. 

“I’ve been working too hard.” She murmured. “I’m starting to see things.”

“Miss Bell, please come back.” Joey scrambled to the door. “I…I have something I need to tell you and Miss Campbell.” 

And so the next few hours were dedicated to informing the rest of the studio of the predicament they’d found themselves in. Some took it better than others. Johnny found the prospect rather interesting honestly, even if Shawn threw down his paintbrush and joined Sammy in railing against their fates. Susie welcomed the opportunity to be closer to Alice. Murray Hill was spared the fate of the others since he’d been out sick for the week but gladly downed some coffee to join them. Of all of them, Thomas was the calmest. 

“We all knew Joey Drew was going to turn himself into a cartoon character someday.” He said. “Just didn’t expect he’d take all of us with him.” On the other end of the spectrum was Cordelia, who had gone aside to have a panic attack. 

“It’s not that bad.” Johnny tried to assure her. 

“Well, it’s not good.” Norman said. “We’re all going to turn into toons because of Joey’s hairbrained schemes. I don’t blame Sammy and Shawn for being pissed. Hell, _I’m_  pissed.”

“I’ll never be normal again.” Cordelia whimpered, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth. 

“We’ll still be able to live and exist.” Johnny said. “Bendy and the others are already integrated into society. We might be treated differently, sure, but we’ll still be able to go out and do stuff. Living toons are old news now.”

“But toons don’t age! I’ll have to watch everyone I love grow old and die!” 

“What’s going on?” Susie ascended the stairs, with Alice behind her. They’d been drawn by Cordelia’s yelling no doubt. 

“The girl’s just upset about becoming a toon.” Norman leaned back in his chair, feet kicked up next to the projector. “Doesn’t want to see her friends and family die while she lives on forever.” 

“Oh, sweetie.” Susie knelt beside Johnny and the crying Cordelia. Even her teas had turned to ink. 

“It’s not so bad, being a toon.” Alice said. “You can’t get hurt, you can’t die. You’ll be young and beautiful forever.”

“You said that the people here are like your family, right?” Susie asked. “If we’re all going to be toons, then you’ll never lose  _us_.”

“She’s got a point there.” Johnny said, patting her shoulder. “We’ll be together forever. All of us.”

“Who knows how long we’ll be able to tolerate Sammy before we go crazy.” Norman said. 

“I HEARD THAT!” Sammy said from the band room below. 

“I know.”

Cordelia peeked over the edge of the projection booth and giggled a little. Literal steam was coming out of Sammy’s ears. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

.

Adjusting to toondom wasn’t as hard as they’d thought it would be. It was difficult, yes, but not too terribly bad. Learning Hammerspace was interesting. Sammy, and for some reason Wally, had a hard time getting out of their heads. Henry and Murray picked it up the quickest, with Murray practicing delightedly any chance he could get. Joey himself was practically a living cartoon in the first place, adjusting faster than everyone else. Aspects of their personalities changed a bit as well, their most notable characteristics becoming more prominent. Once they’d adjusted, there came the problem of their families. Most of the studio employees weren’t married, but the few who were took the opportunity to offer their families the chance to become toons with them. Henry’s wife, Linda, was a little skeptical but decided to become a toon anyway. Gretta Conners took the offer as well. The children were excluded from the offer since they were too young to properly consider the consequences of the decision. 

Outside the studio, the world was blown away by this miraculous transformation. No one had ever considered that humans could get turned into toons. The news ran a bunch of different stories about the studio and the people in it. A lot of people came to the studio wanting to become toons themselves. Joey was a little surprised by this, but obliged. Only after giving the people time to properly think it through, though. 

“So, how’s Hammerspace practice going, boys?” Bendy asked, walking into Sammy’s office. Gathered inside were Sammy, Wally, Cordelia, and newly minted employee Roy. 

“Fine.” Roy said, pulling his hat out of hammerspace and tilting it down on his head. 

“Sammy was just asking us to help with a new song.” Cordelia said. “I swear, we’re working.”

“Calm down lil lady.” Wally patted her back. “He’s not interrogating us.”

“Or am I?” Bendy wiggled his eyebrows. 

Sammy rolled his eyes. “C’mon, boss. Don’t yank our chain.” 

Bendy snickered and was about to continue to tease the employees until Grant walked in. 

“Ah, there you are sir.” He said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “I wanted to talk to you and Mr. Drew about some billing logistics.” Bendy tried to suppress a groan before turning back to Grant. 

“Alright alright. Let’s do this.” He gestured for Grant to follow, and the accountant did. The two of them disappeared upstairs, leaving the four in Sammy’s office to continue. 

“He didn’t suspect a thing.” Wally said, snickering under his breath. 

“We almost got in trouble!” Cordelia shoved Wally, but gently. Roy just grinned, spinning his hat on his finger. Sammy threw a pencil at Wally. Things were definitely strange now, but it was all par for the course when working at Joey Drew Studios. 


	19. Through Blood And Ink

So, [@throughbloodandink](https://tmblr.co/muIui0uE28tzhFDKq_DxoWQ) opened up submissions for oc’s, and I submitted dear Cordelia. So I’m gonna write a thing of her in their universe. After Susie showing up in the newest update, I wanted to include it. 

* * *

There were a lot of things that scared Cordelia Bell. She wasn’t fond of spiders, she didn’t like being alone for long periods of time, and she was terrified of Joseph Drew. And unlike other things she was afraid of, she knew exactly why she needed to be afraid of Joey. She’d heard the stories from Wally about how the toons had come into the world, and she’d met Murray Hill once. She did not like Murray Hill. There was something…wrong with Murray Hill. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something wrong with him. He most definitely wasn’t human. He’d given her this look, she couldn’t explain what it had been, but it had chilled her to her bones. She’d sworn to herself that she would never find herself alone with that man ever again. 

Despite being absolutely terrified of her boss, Cordelia did enjoy her job immensely. She loved the people who populated Joey Drew Studios. They were like a second family to her. It was just her and her brother now, and having more people in her life was definitely good for her. She didn’t know everyone, of course, but those she did were absolutely lovely. She especially adored Sammy Lawrence. She might have had a little crush on him, but she kept everything professional during work hours. Sammy, at the very least, seemed to tolerate her. She wasn’t sure how he actually felt about her. 

For the most part, Cordelia operated by being as inoffensive as possible. A bad word about her fellow coworkers never passed her lips, save for when she knew she was alone or with someone who wouldn’t spread it around. Wally was good for that sort of thing. He knew how to keep a secret. Norman was nice too. He scared a lot of people, but Cordelia found him to be very sweet. Mostly because he reminded her of her brother. Both were tall, thin, and moved far more quietly than they should. 

“Bell!” Sammy leaned out of his office. “I need you to take these to Joey’s office!” He held out a stack of papers, presumably the previous day’s songs. 

“Yes, sir!” Cordelia had just gotten in and had already hung up her coat. She grabbed the papers and ran up to Joey’s office, humming to herself. She said hello to the other members of the studio as she passed, unable to keep herself from smiling. She really loved this place. However, her smile faded as she got closer to Joey’s office. She knew full well that Joey didn’t pay her a lot of attention due to her position, she was just an assistant, after all, practically a gofer, but she was still determined to do whatever she could to avoid drawing attention to herself. She was surprised to see a new face as she approached Sammy’s office. A beautiful woman being led by Bendy. 

“Hi, Miss Bell!” Bendy waved to her. 

“Hello, Bendy.” She smiled softly. 

“This is Cordelia.” Bendy turned back to the woman, pointing at Cordelia. “She’s Sammy’s assistant. She brings coffee and papers and stuff.”

“I’m Susie Campbell.” The woman held out her hand, which Cordelia fumbled to shake. “I’m a new voice actress!” A new voice actress? But they didn’t have any female characters. 

“I’m excited to work with you.” Cordelia put on a big smile. She’d have to talk to Wally about this. Maybe he would know something. Him or Norman. They saw and knew everything.

“Aren’t you just the cutest little thing!” Susie clapped her hands in front of her face. “Like a little doll!”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I’m  _that_  cute.” Cordelia laughed nervously. 

“Yeah yeah, she’s adorable.” Bendy rolled his eyes. “Come on, we haven’t even seen anything yet!”

“I’ll see you later, Cordelia.” Susie waved to Cordelia as she was dragged away by the little demon. Cordelia laughed softly to herself, then turned back to Joey’s door. She walked up and knocked gently. 

“Mr. Drew? I have some papers from Mr. Lawrence.”

“Bring them in.” Joey’s voice came from within. Cordelia took a deep breath and opened the door. Joey had seated himself at his desk and was pulling out some paperwork. 

“I heard you talking with Miss Campbell in the hallway,” Joey said, not looking up. “What do you think of her?” 

“She seems like a delightful person.” She put the papers on his desk, fiddling with them that they were straight and orderly. It was a nervous tic of hers, organizing things. Joey regarded her with slightly narrowed eyes. 

“Is something wrong, Miss Bell?” He asked, his most reassuring smile surfacing. “You seem…nervous.”

“It’s nothing, sir, really.” Cordelia shook her head quickly, turning to walk away.

“Miss Bell.” Joey got up from his desk, smile sharpening. “If you have concerns, I’d rather you tell me.” Cordelia froze in the doorway.

“Well…” She turned around slowly. “I was just wondering who Miss Campbell is going to voice. We don’t have any female characters. That’s all.”

“Is that all?” Joey seemed to relax at this. “I wouldn’t worry about that, Miss Bell. I have a plan.”

“That’s good to hear, sir.” She nodded. “Do you have anything you need me to bring to Mr. Lawrence?” He went back to his desk and retrieved a few papers before handing them off to her. 

“Thank you, sir.” She dipped her head, hurrying out of the room with the papers clutched to her chest. She had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. But then again, she’d had bad feelings before and those hadn’t panned out. 

“You look nervous.” She jumped a little at Norman’s voice. As usual, he appeared from the shadows. 

“It’s nothing.” She assured him. Norman shrugged and walked away. It wasn’t his business to push her if she didn’t want to talk. But he was going to keep her nervousness in mind because it meant something was going on. Cordelia let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding in and hurried on. 


	20. Little Musician

Inspired by [@falseprotagonistsofbatim](https://tmblr.co/mejQ4GGMoMh3unuAUTjfIOg) ‘s baby studio ask event.

* * *

Cordelia hadn’t expected to come into work and find the studio full of children. She was more than a little concerned by the situation. 

“Mr. Drew?” She called out tentatively. No one immediately answered although the little boy in the wheelchair did look up and around in confusion. Now that she looked a bit closer, he did resemble her boss rather a lot. Looking around at the children, she could see her coworkers in the children sitting on the floor. 

“Who’re you?” A brown haired boy demanded. 

“My name is Cordelia Bell.” She smiled and knelt down a little so that she was eye level with him. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Jack.” The boy blushed a little as she knelt down.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Jack.” She ruffled his hair. He had such lovely, curly hair. It reminded her of Roy’s hair a bit. 

“Thanks.” He mumbled, hunching his shoulders. “Why’re you here?”

“Well, I work here,” Cordelia explained. “I’m the assistant to the music director.” Jack tilted his head to the side.

“The music director writes songs.”

“Sounds like stupid Sammy Wes.” Jack turned and glowered over his shoulder at a boy seated by the wall. The boy was thin, wearing threadbare clothing, and had such a familiar face. 

“It’s not very nice to call people stupid.” Cordelia fought to keep her voice calm and even.

“But he  _is_  stupid!” Jack stamped his foot. “He’s rude and mean and you can’t even sing to his songs!”

“Well, being mean right back to him doesn’t make you any better,” Cordelia replied sternly. “It makes both of you rude and mean.” 

“You’re just like everyone else,” Jack muttered, folding his arms.

“Sweetheart, I’m speaking from experience.” Cordelia inclined his chin with her hand so their eyes met. “I’ve had a lot of people be mean to me in my life, and being mean right back to them doesn’t help. It justifies their cruelty.” 

“…Okay.” Jack seemed to back down a little. 

“Here, why don’t you go write for a little while?” Cordelia pulled a notebook out of her bag, along with a pen, handing them to the boy. “You can keep them too.” She winked at him. Jack’s eyes widened and he ran off to go write. Cordelia took a shaking breath and walked over to the little boy with the banjo.

“Hey there.” She sat down beside him. “Mind if I sit with you?” The little boy shrugged. 

“What’s your name?”

“Wes. Sammy Wes.”

“That’s a nice name.” She smiled at him. “My name is Cordelia. Do you like music, Sammy Wes?” Sammy looked over at her, cautious but interested. 

“There’s a piano downstairs.” She got up, holding her hand out to him. “We can play together down there.”

“You…Wanna play with me?” Sammy asked quietly. 

“Of course.” Cordelia gave him a big smile. Cautiously, Sammy took her hand. She’d held Sammy’s hand before, but never like this. She was used to his hand being large and calloused, not small and almost fragile. Sammy, meanwhile, was rather in awe of this woman. She was like sunshine personified. He didn’t understand why she’d come over to him, though. He’d seen her talking with Jack, and part of him wondered why she hadn’t stayed with Jack. Why would she want anything to do with  _him_? Cordelia took him down to the band room and sat down at the piano with him.

“What’s your favorite song to play?” She asked, looking at him. Sammy couldn’t help but stare at her for a moment. She was just so pretty. She looked like the angels in the stained glass windows at the church.

“Sammy?” She tilted her head to the side. 

“Oh, um…” He shrugged slightly. “I’unno.”

“What do you usually play?” 

“Church songs.”

“Do you ever write any songs yourself?” She reached out and brushed some hair behind his ear in an almost motherly manner. Maybe if he was good, she might like him and adopt him! But…That probably wouldn’t happen. No one had ever wanted him before. So why would anyone want him now?

“Some stuff.” He shrugged, letting his hair fall back in his face. Cordelia clicked her tongue and reached into her back, taking out a ribbon. She gathered up Sammy’s hair and tied it into a ponytail, tying the ribbon in a bow. 

“There.” She smiled. “Now aren’t you a handsome little man?” She wanted to pinch his cheeks, but she knew that would be weird. He was just so cute!

“Anyway.” She swept her own hair back. “I’d love to hear what you’ve written.”

“It’s not that good.” He mumbled, wishing he had his hair to hide behind. 

“Everyone starts somewhere.” Cordelia put a hand on his shoulder. “But if you really don’t want to-”

“No!” His head snapped up. “I mean, um, no. I wanna play my music.” 

“Well, let’s hear it.” She sat back, allowing him to have full access to the piano. Sammy hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to disappoint the nice angel lady, but set his hands down on the keys. He took a deep breath and began to play. Cordelia listened quietly, hands folded in her lap, a soft smile on her face. 

“That was lovely.” She said when he was finished. 

“You…You really think so?” She had to be humoring him. No one ever actually liked his music. 

“I do.” She nodded fervently. “You really have an ear for music, Sammy.”

“You don’t really mean that,” Sammy mumbled, hunching his shoulders. 

“Of course I do!” Cordelia frowned, moving closer. “I was told never to tell lies.”

“So you…You really like my music?”

Cordelia took his hands in hers, holding them tightly. 

“Yes.” She said.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then Sammy started to sniffle. 

“Are you alright?” Cordelia asked. 

“I’m fine!” Sammy snapped, trying to wipe away the tears that were springing up. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” Cordelia clicked her tongue and drew him into her arms as he started to cry. He couldn’t believe someone actually liked what he made. Jack always told him his songs were stupid and the nuns didn’t seem to care all that much. But this lady, this nice angel lady, loved his work. She’d said so. And she’d meant it. He could tell.

“Your work is important, Sammy Wes.” She said, patting his back. “Never let anyone tell you otherwise.” Sammy just nodded into her chest, continuing to sob. Cordelia sighed. She wished she could have met him when she’d been young. Maybe then he would have understood how wonderful he was. Maybe if they’d met sooner…things would have been different.


	21. Professor Gingie

So, I was at [@aceofintuition](https://tmblr.co/mDWgNFUdJwq2ycefKQTVhZQ) ‘s stream last night and they were drawing [@pipesflowforeverandever](https://tmblr.co/m2zmumMEKoKDrJDlESd5txQ) ‘s Gingie in Snowy’s clothes and there were jokes that he looked like a college professor, and so Professor Gingie was born. 

* * *

 

Cordelia Bell wasn’t sure why she was taking an art course. She was a music major for crying out loud! But Roy had taken a lot of art courses at the college and highly recommended them. It wouldn’t hurt to at least try, right? She took a deep, shaking breath and entered the classroom. The teacher didn’t seem to be there yet, so she took a seat near the back and waited quietly. She watched the other students curiously. Most of them were students from other majors, like her. She spotted a few students she thought might be art students, though. They were seated in the front, sketching away absentmindedly on sketchpads. She stared down at her own sketchpad, woefully blank, and wondered if she’d even made the right choice. She’d wait and see how the first class went, then she’d decide whether to continue. Suddenly, the door burst open and a man strode in. He was wearing a top hat. Cordelia rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing this correctly. But, no, he really was wearing a top hat, as well as a full suit with tails.

“Hello there, my dear children!” He said brightly, striding to the front of the room and leaning on a cane Cordelia hadn’t noticed he’d been holding. 

“Is this guy for real?” She heard someone whisper. 

“An excellent question, my boy!” The teacher, at least she was assuming that was who this was, pointed his cane towards the student who had spoken. “And yes! I am!” He turned on his heel and grabbed a piece of chalk, beginning to write feverishly on the board. The whole class erupted into whispers.

“I,” he turned away from the board to proudly display his writing. “Am Professor Joey Drew! However, since there are two other Professor Drews here, you may call me Professor Gingie.” 

Cordelia genuinely wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Especially since Professor “Gingie” immediately moved on to asking them to introduce themselves. The class wasn’t too big, it was a summer class after all, so Cordelia figured she could keep all the names straight. 

“And you, Miss! What is your name?” Suddenly she found herself face to face with the end of Gingie’s cane.

“Oh, um, Cordelia Bell, sir.” She cursed herself for adding sir at the end of the sentence. The other students snickered at her nervous demeanor. 

“Now, there’s no need to be rude.” Gingie chided them. “She’s simply surprised.” He turned to Cordelia and gave her a big smile before returning to the head of the class and starting off on a speech about the wonders of art. 

Cordelia found herself transfixed. It was different than her lectures with Sammy, that was for sure, and she certainly didn’t fantasize about making out with Professor Gingie in the janitor’s closet, but she found herself drawn to the eccentric art professor. There was something so comforting and uplifting about his passion for art. She wasn’t the best at art, but he encouraged her anyway. 

Their third class, they’d gone outside to draw some flowers and Cordelia had let her mind wander. She couldn’t focus on the flowers. She ended up drawing Sammy since she was thinking of his lecture and her homework for that week. It wasn’t an amazing drawing by any means, but it was definitely recognizable as Sammy Lawrence.

“That’s an excellent drawing of Mr. Lawrence.” She jumped when she heard Gingie’s voice behind her. She turned around quickly to see Gingie leaned over, hands folded behind his back. 

“I-I’m sorry Mr. Drew, I know we were supposed to be drawing flowers,” she started to babble. “My mind started wandering and-”

“No need to apologize, my dear.” Gingie waved a hand dismissively. “Drawing flowers was merely a suggestion. I wanted you to draw what drew your interest. And, evidently, Mr. Lawrence has your interest.” Cordelia felt her face heating up. She nodded meekly and avoided looking at him. 

“It’s not that good.” She mumbled. 

“Nonsense!” Gingie heartily slapped her back. “You put your heart into it and that’s what matters! I can tell you care about Mr. Lawrence a great deal.” 

“It’s just a stupid crush.” Cordelia hunched her shoulders and stared at the drawing of Sammy.

“Now, what makes you think that?” Gingie sat down beside her, smiling kindly.

“I mean, I barely know him.” She shrugged slightly. “Plus, he’s my teacher.”

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling things, my dear.” Gingie patted her back, gentler this time. “You shouldn’t try to deny your emotions. You’ll only cause yourself more problems that way.” Before Cordelia could respond, he was standing up and moving on to someone else. She went back to her drawing of Sammy, smiling softly. 

She started looking forward to every class she had with Gingie. She found herself improving in her art. Soon she was able to draw faces and people much better than she could before. Every word of praise spurred her onward. She was delighted by how much Gingie enjoyed art, and how much he made  _her_  enjoy art. She was almost disappointed when the summer session came to an end. When the last class came, she went up to Gingie at the end, holding her bag in front of her chest. 

“Could I…Could I take your class again?” She asked, quietly. “I know I’m not an art major but-”

“My dear, you don’t need to explain yourself.” Gingie smiled gently. “I would be delighted to have you in class again. You are a wonderful student.” Cordelia flushed and grinned. She then hugged him before running away, giggling to herself. She’d definitely take his class again.


	22. Chapter 22

**[magicalmonsterhero](https://magicalmonsterhero.tumblr.com/) asked: Sillyvision Survivor Cordelia (Also safe: C2 characters, C3 characters, Wally, Lacie)**

Cordelia had always considered the people of Joey Drew Studios to be a second family. It was just her and Roy, after all. She would do just about anything to keep them safe and happy. But then she’d discovered Joey’s experiments and things had…changed. She didn’t remember much from the night she’d tried to kill herself, but seeing her fear at the mere mention of Joey’s name had been enough to convince many of the other employees to up and quit. They didn’t know what exactly Joey was doing, but it had been enough to send Cordelia over the side of a bridge, so they weren’t taking any chances.

Cordelia couldn’t quite put into words the relief she’d felt upon hearing that her friends were quitting as well. There were those that she couldn’t save, she knew that, but those she was closest to were getting out of there. Things weren’t perfect after that, she woke up periodically with nightmares, but they were definitely better. She headed back to school, got her teaching degree, started working at a school. Things were good. And then Henry got that damn letter from Joey. 

“It’s dangerous!” She’d told him. “You can’t go back!” But he’d gone back regardless. And when he’d returned, it had been with the toons


	23. Chapter 23

So, it came out that in [@throughbloodandink](https://tmblr.co/muIui0uE28tzhFDKq_DxoWQ) , Cordelia is [marked](http://queenofcats17.tumblr.com/post/175359646640/has-anyone-actually-seen-their-mark). And she does have a brother, so I wanted to write his feelings about this whole situation.

Featuring a brief appearance by [@historybuffpuff](https://tmblr.co/midNF8Wp4L3U2ciHNHTc1nQ)‘s Chris Ring

This has been sitting in my draft folder for a long time and I finally decided to write it. 

* * *

Roy Bell hadn’t seen his sister in nearly a year now. This in itself wasn’t necessarily a cause for concern. She’d just gotten a new job, so it made sense that she’d want to branch out and gain more independence. But the thing was, she’d never come back to get her things before moving out. She’d gone out to get the job, called him to say she got the job, and never came back. He was sure there was some perfectly ordinary explanation for why she hadn’t returned home, but the whole thing just felt…strange to him. He’d invited her out for her birthday shortly after she’d gotten the job and she’d declined, saying something about feeling uncomfortable when she left the studio. He didn’t think that was normal. 

And then there was her boss. Roy knew he was probably overthinking this, but something just seemed off about that Joey Drew fellow. The few times Roy had dropped by the studio, he’d always gotten the feeling Joey very much didn’t want him to be there. The studio head had been polite and courteous, but there was a cold undertone to his words and gestures. And every time Roy visited, Joey would oh so kindly suggest that maybe Roy should let his sister have some space. Roy had visited maybe three times during the time Cordelia had worked there, and if the siblings talked on the phone, it was usually Cordelia who initiated the call. The whole thing just rubbed him the wrong way. But Cordelia seemed happy, so he tried not to say anything most of the time. 

Cordelia’s birthday was coming up, so he’d decided to drop by the studio to give her a present. She hadn’t taken any extra clothes with her to her job interview, so he thought she might want a new dress. He’d bought the dress, wrapped it, and headed over to the studio. He was in rather good spirits. He’d finally gotten up the courage to ask out a man he’d had a crush on for the past year or so and they were going on a date that weekend. He was excited and he knew Cordelia would be as well. She’d mentioned dating someone at the studio herself, but he hadn’t been given too many details. He’d elected not to push her. 

He arrived at the studio, humming to himself. It was a nice enough day. He left his car, walking up to the studio door. He entered without a second thought, unconsciously shivering as he stepped inside. He never felt right in this place. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the main hall. 

“Hello?” He called out tentatively. “It’s Roy Bell. I’m here to see my sister.” He stood there for a moment or two before trying again. After a few minutes, his sister did surface. Although, it didn’t seem like it was because someone had told her he was looking for her. 

“Roy!” Her face immediately lit up upon seeing him, and she ran over to hug him. He hugged her back, smiling to himself. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked, looking up at him. 

“Your birthday is next week.” He held up the package. “I thought I’d bring you a present.” Her eyes widened and she tried to snatch the present from him. Instead, he held it out of her reach. 

“Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Do you want it?”

“Yes!”

“Use your words~”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “May I have my present please?”

“You may.” He handed it over. 

“You’re an asshole.” She muttered, taking the package and starting to open it. 

“You love me~” 

“You’re lucky I do.” She muttered, ripping off the paper. As soon as she saw what it was, she stopped. She just stared at the dress. It was blue, with little flowers all over it. She looked up at Roy, her eyes wide and threatening to overflow with unshed tears. 

“I figured you didn’t have any clothes besides the ones you’re wearing.” Roy smiled slightly and shrugged. “Thought you might want something nice to wear for special occasions here.”

“Oh, thank you!” She threw her arms around him, sniffling a bit. He patted her head again. He’d missed her so much. He knew she was happy here, but he couldn’t help but miss her. The hug lasted longer than either of them had anticipated, but neither minded. 

“So, how are you?” Roy asked when she finally pulled away. “I hope the job is treating you well.”

“It is, don’t worry.” Cordelia wiped away some tears. 

“Drew’s not working you too hard, is he?”

“He’s not.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Mr. Lawrence can be a bit demanding sometimes, sure, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.” 

“I’m glad.” He hoped he didn’t look too concerned. Evidently, he did, because Cordelia sighed and reached out to pat his shoulder. 

“I’m fine, really.” She said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“You’re my little sister. I kind of  _have_  to worry about you.” He cracked a small smile. “But I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“Anyway, tell me about this new boyfriend of yours.” Cordelia grinned and leaned in close. “Is he someone I know?” Roy hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about this in the studio. But Cordelia’s hopeful gaze made him finally give in. 

“It’s that tattoo artist.” He admitted. “The one from the studio where you wanted to do your back tattoo.”

“I never did get around to that.” Cordelia murmured, then shrugged. “Oh well. He’s cute! And so’s his daughter.”

“She’s a real sweetheart.” Roy had never envisioned himself becoming a father, but something about that little girl and her father just made his heart melt. 

“Look at you, deciding to be a father.” Cordelia gently punched his arm. “You’re gonna do great.”

“Thanks.” He wanted so badly for Cordelia to meet them. He wanted her to be a part of his life again. But he couldn’t just say that. She got…strange when he brought up her leaving the studio. Thankfully, the attention was taking off of him by someone else arriving. 

“Cordelia, Lawrence is looking for you.” A man stuck his head out of the stairwell. “He has papers he wants you to deliver.”

“Thank you, Chris, I’ll be right there.” She said, giving him a smile. Roy couldn’t help but note the tenderness in the expression. Perhaps this was the boyfriend she’d spoken of. 

“He’s not going to like that,” Chris replied. “You know how he gets when people make him wait.”

“I’ll just be a minute.” She assured him. “I have to say goodbye to my brother.”

“Alright.” Chris nodded slightly. “Come find me when you’re done.” 

“I will.” She waved to him as he left, before turning to Roy with an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry. Look’s like I’ve gotta go.”

“I understand.” Roy patted her head. “Go on. Do your job.” Cordelia’s face lit up, and she ran off with the dress clutched tight to her chest. Roy lingered in the hallway for a moment or two before leaving. He didn’t want to run into Joey Drew.

Life went on. Roy tried not to worry about Cordelia, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right about that studio. He tried to move on. He ended up getting married to the tattoo artist. It was one of the happiest days of his life, but it killed him that Cordelia couldn’t be there. Still, he tried to be happy in his life. Eventually, he just stopped hearing from his sister. He knew she was dead, and he knew Joey Drew was behind it. But he couldn’t prove anything. He was the only one looking for her anyway. The police wouldn’t care. He had to move on. He had no other choice. 


	24. Some Art

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not writing. I just wanted to draw Cordelia as a toon demon, a toon angel, and a mix like Alice. Also posted on my Tumblr

Cordelia Cherub, because of [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11912388/chapters/30704625)

[Gears112](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gears112/pseuds/Gears112) has suggested her name be Dee Demon and I like it. I feel like she'd be a succubus in training who's really bad at her job

Cordelia Angel, more of a mixture of angel and demon like Alice


	25. The Birth of Dee Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Halloween prank by Bendy ends up turning everyone's favorite lovable cherub into a dastardly demon!

Cordelia's costume is based off [this](http://bendy-and-the-ink-machine.wikia.com/wiki/File:Showbiz_Bendy.jpg).

And the halo thing comes from [here](https://clair-de-luna.tumblr.com/post/181508462764/i-heard-that-if-your-halo-is-taken-that-you-become). 

Also featuring Dorothy the Demon Hunter, who belongs to @Gears112

* * *

“Gosh, Ben, are you sure this is a good idea?” Boris asked as he and Bendy crept up to the door to the Angel household.

“It’s Halloween!” Bendy said. “You know what they say, **trick** or treat! And I’m choosing trick!”

“But Alice might get mad if we steal her halo.” Boris started to wring his hands.

“It’s not like we’re taking it away forever.” Bendy waved a hand dismissively. “It’s just for a little bit, and I’ll give it back! Angelcakes is way more fun without her halo anyway!”

“Well, I guess.” Boris followed him inside.

The members of the Angel household were gathered in the living room, putting the finishing touches on their costumes.

“Gee, it really was nice of you to lend me these horns for my costume, Miss Alice!” Cordelia was saying. She was dressed up as Alice from the time Alice had been a magician, complete with a black wig to finish the look. Boris shuddered at the memory. Alice had sawed him in half!

“Oh, it was no problem!” Alice replied, adjusting her own costume. She was dressed up like a gangster, complete with a fedora.

“We have a lot of spare horns.” Sammy shrugged. “With all the shenanigans that go on with that demon brat, we need spares for when Alice’s get broken.” He was dressed as a lounge singer to go along with Alice’s gangster, complete with a sparkly dress, earrings, a pearl necklace, fishnets, and high heels. He looked pretty good, honestly. Who knew Sammy had such nice legs?

“I guess that makes sense.” Cordelia giggled.

“You know, I’m surprised Bendy hasn’t shown up,” Alice said. “Halloween is one of his favorite holidays. I would have thought he’d want to come trick all of us.”

“With any luck, he’s off terrorizing someone else,” Sammy replied, flipping his hair over his shoulder. Bendy rolled his eyes, making a ‘talking’ gesture with one of his hands. Boris stifled some giggles.

Suddenly, the clock chimed, causing the angels to jump.

“Oh no! We’re going to be late for the Halloween party!” Cordelia exclaimed.

“We should get going,” Sammy said. The angels started to move to the door, where Bendy and Boris were hiding. As soon as the angels came within range, Bendy popped out and snatched the halo of the angel closest to him.

“I choose trick!” He crowed, holding the halo up above his head. He was so caught up in his pride, he didn’t notice he’d taken the wrong angel’s halo. Alice’s remained floating above her fedora. But Cordelia’s was in Bendy’s hands.

“Bendy!” Alice gasped in horror. Bendy looked from the halo in his hand to the horrified angels and the terrified cherub before smiling sheepishly.

“Oops?”

“We might wanna start runnin’,” Boris whispered.

“Yeah.”

The demon and wolf sped out of the house, pursued by two furious angels. Cordelia was left in the house, still a little stunned. However, she slowly began to recover, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. She still had to get to that Halloween party. And she had a few ideas about what she could do once she got there.

.

Alice and Sammy had almost caught Boris and Bendy when Dorothy came to find them. She was rather upset, pointing frantically toward the Halloween party venue as she explained how strange Cordelia had been acting.

“She arrived and started making trouble!” Dorothy said. “She’s acting almost like…Well…Almost like a demon!” Alice turned back toward Bendy, her eyes narrowed.

“You’re going to give her halo back, you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bendy squeaked, the halo clutched to his chest.

“We’re really sorry,” Boris added, tail between his legs.

“Come on.” Sammy sighed, heading toward the party venue. “My feet are starting to hurt.” The group started to walk back.

“What happened?” Dorothy asked as they walked. “She didn’t get turned into a demon, did she?”

“Bendy wanted to take my halo because he thought it would be funny, but he took Dee’s instead,” Alice explained, shooting Bendy another look. “And, well, you know what happens when people take my halo. I guess because she’s wearing some of my horns, she started acting the same way I do.”

“Shame on you!” Dorothy shook her finger at Bendy.

“I was gonna give it back!” Bendy said, folding his arms. Alice made ‘hmph’ sound, folding her arms as well. They continued to walk in silence for a bit more before Dorothy spoke again.

“I like your costume, Miss Alice.” She said shyly. “You look really dapper.”

“Oh! Thank you.” Alice blushed, a few hearts drifting up from her head. Bendy made a gagging noise, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Sammy.

When they arrived at the Halloween party, they found Cordelia becoming rather familiar with a guitar player from town. She was seated next to him, leaning on him and batting her eyelashes. He seemed a bit put off, but was smiling and humoring her. Some partygoers had toilet paper stuck to them, a few were covered in punch, and the papers bats had been turned into real ones. 

“Alright, fun’s over.” Sammy hoisted her up by the back of her dress, dragging her away.

“But I was just getting close to him!” Cordelia whined as she was dragged outside.

“You can talk to him later,” Alice said gently. Cordelia pouted, sticking her bottom lip out in an adorable manner. Bendy let go of the halo, allowing it to fly back to its proper place over the cherub’s head. After a moment or two had passed, Cordelia’s eyes widened, her whole face overcome with a blush as she realized all she had done. Sammy put her down, allowing her to cover her face and start to quietly scream.

“There we go.” Alice dusted her hands off, looking rather proud. She then turned to Dorothy, smiling nervously. “Do you, um, want to dance?”

“I’d love to!” Dorothy grinned. The two women went inside, leaving Sammy with Cordelia, Bendy, and Boris.

“We aren’t getting any candy tonight, are we?” Boris asked, looking rather sorrowful.

“I don’t know, have you learned your lesson?” Sammy gave them both a stern look.

“Yes!” Bendy nodded fervently. Sammy knew Bendy would definitely try this again, but for now, the little demon’s word was enough for him.

“Alright. You can go get some candy.” He said. “But you better not cause any trouble or I’ll make sure to kick your butts back to Hell!”

“We’ll be good!” Bendy grinned before dragging Boris inside. Sammy rolled his eyes, helping Cordelia up before going back inside himself.

 


End file.
